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Publication* 


C;,B. 

?ub 


C 


CALENDAR 

OF 


COLONIAL      SERIES 


AMERICA    AND    WEST    INDIES 

1728-1729 

PRESERVED    IN    THE 

PUBLIC     RECORD     OFFICE 

EDITED    BY 

CECIL     HEADLAM,     M.A. 

WITH    AN    INTRODUCTION    BY 

ARTHUR    PERCIVAL    NEWTON,    D.Lit.,    F.S.A. 

Rhodes  Professor  of  Imperial  History  in  the  University  of  London, 
Fellow  of  King's  College,  London. 


ISSUED   BY    THK  AUTHORITY  OF  THE   LORDS  COMMISSIONERS   OF   HIS   MAJESTY'S  TRF.ASURY 
UNDER   THE  DIRECTION   OF   THE   MASTER  OF   THE   ROLLS 


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S.O.  CODE  No.  44 — 1014 — 36 


CONTENTS 


PAGE 
CORRIGENDA  iv 

INTRODUCTION  v 

CALENDAR  1 

GENERAL  INDEX  -       589 

The  reference  "  A.P.C."  is  to  the  printed  Acts  of  the  Privy 
Council,  Colonial  Series,  "  Journal  "  to  the  printed  Journal 
of  the  Commissioners  for  Trade  and  Plantations. 


NOTE.  etc.  printed  in  italics  in  the  course  of  the  text  indicates 
that  matter  merely  repeated  or  of  no  importance  is  there 
omitted.  Phrases  in  italics  are  summaries  of  matter  of 
slight  importance.  Words  printed  in  italics  between  square 
brackets  [thus]  are  suggestions  by  the  Editor  where  the 
MS  is  rubbed  or  torn. 


m 


CORRIGENDA 

p.     27.      no.  39.       For  "  drying  "  read  "  dyeing." 

p.     33.      no.  50  i.     For  13th  Jan.,  1727  read  13th  Jan,  172|. 

p.  362.      wo.  688.     For     "  Josiah     Millard "     read     "  Josiah 
Willard." 

In  the  numbering  of  the  documents  the  numbers  242  to  260 
inclusive  have  been  omitted  by  inadvertence.  There  is  no  gap 
among  the  documents  as  calendared. 


IV 


INTRODUCTION 


While  1726  and  1727  were  comparatively  quiet  in  British 
colonial  affairs,  the  two  years  covered  in  this  volume,  1728  and 
1729,  were  full  of  business.  This  is  indicated  in  its  size 
as  compared  with  that  of  the  preceding  volume.  The  text  of 
the  Calendar  for  1726-7  covered  432  pages  and  included  854 
items  ;  that  for  1728-9  fills  588  pages  and  1068  documents  are 
abstracted. 

I. 
GENERAL. 

In  the  colonies,  as  in  the  field  of  European  politics,  the  out- 
standing  feature  of  the  period  was  the  culmination  in  war  of 
the  long-standing  and  acrimonious  disputes  between  England 
and  Spain  over  the  commerce  of  the  Indies.  There  was 
no  formal  declaration  of  a  state  of  war,  there  were  no  campaigns 
on  a  large  scale,  and  save  for  Spain's  unsuccessful  operations 
against  Gibraltar,  hostilities  were  practically  confined  to  the 
attacks  of  Spanish  privateers  and  guarda  costas  on  British 
commerce  in  American  waters.  From  these  papers  it  is 
impossible  to  get  a  connected  narrative  of  the  naval  operations 
by  which  Great  Britain  was  attempting  to  cripple  Spain  by  the 
blockade  of  her  treasure  fleet,  but  we  learn  that  at  the  beginning 
of  the  period  Admiral  Hosier  was  still  cruising  with  his  squadron 
off  Cartagena  (33),  and  it  was  said  that  the  galleons  lying  there 
were  so  rapidly  deteriorating  that  it  was  doubtful  whether  they 
would  be  seaworthy  enough  for  the  voyage  to  Europe.  (43). 
From  time  to  time  we  get  glimpses  from  the  Jamaica  despatches 
of  the  difficulties  that  our  commanders  had  in  maintaining  the 
blockade.  They  had  to  keep  their  ships  supplied  from  the 
base  at  Port  Royal,  and  the  narrow  self-interest  of  the  colonists 
hampered  them  at  every  turn,  but  the  colonial  papers  only 
give  a  few  side-lights  to  the  naval  historian  upon  what  was 
going  on. 


VI 


COLONIAL    PAPERS. 


Admiral 

Hosier 

and  the 

Jamaican 

planters. 


Depreda- 
tions of  the 

Spanish 
privateers. 


The  agent  in  Jamaica  of  the  contractor  for  victualling  the 
Navy  wrote  to  the  Secretary  of  State  to  complain  of  the  passage 
by  the  Jamaican  Assembly  of  an  Act  which  would  have  the 
effect  of  monopolising  the  rum  produced  in  the  colony  for  the 
benefit  of  the  planters  and  middlemen  to  the  detriment  of  the 
navy.  Much  of  the  sickness  that  was  crippling  Hosier's  crews 
off  Cartagena  was  attributed  to  the  scarcity  of  rum,  and  several 
times  the  Admiral  was  obliged  to  quit  the  coast  and  thereby 
give  opportunity  to  the  Spaniards  to  escape  his  blockade. 
Because  of  the  hardships  imposed  by  the  Jamaicans  upon  the 
rum-contractor  and  their  insistence  upon  exorbitant  prices, 
he  threw  up  his  contract  at  the  very  juncture  of  Hosier's 
operations  against  Porto  Bello,  and  his  successor  could  only 
break  the  ring  by  bringing  in  rum  from  Barbados  direct  to  the 
ships  in  Port  Royal  harbour  and  refusing  to  pay  any  Jamaica 
dues.  (179). 

Our  ships  could  meet  with  nothing  out  of  harbour,  the 
Spaniards  showing  no  willingness  to  fight  but  keeping  close  in 
port  under  the  guns  of  their  batteries.  (35).  This  not  only 
caused  their  vessels  to  deteriorate  (119)  but  led  to  much  slack- 
ness in  the  British  ships  which  spent  much  of  their  time  at  Port 
Royal.  Trade  was  stagnant,  and  the  effect  of  the  depredations 
of  the  Spanish  privateers  was  felt  as  far  North  as  the  waters 
off  the  coast  of  New  Hampshire,  (71),  but  the  embargoes  upon 
either  side,  though  they  caused  losses  and  inconvenience  to 
the  merchants,  led  to  no  result,  for  they  were  not  vital  to  the 
fortunes  of  either  side.  The  Spanish  privateers  were  well 
armed  and  well  led,  and  they  let  nothing  escape  them  off  the 
Jamaica  coast,  (p.  95)  so  that  it  was  difficult  for  the  Governor 
to  get  his  letters  through  to  England,  (185).  The  operations 
of  the  privateers  off  the  coast  of  Virginia  compelled  the  intro- 
duction of  a  convoy  system  (p.  126)  that  was  much  disliked  by 
the  merchants  but  was  essential  to  the  safety  of  their  ships, 
and  in  every  direction  there  was  constant  irritation.  The  news 
of  the  assembly  of  the  Congress  of  Soissons  to  arrange  the 
preliminaries  of  peace  that  reached  them  in  June  1728  was 
welcomed  with  relief  in  the  colonies,  and  the  merchants  hastened 
to  prepare  claims  for  compensation  for  the  losses  they  had 


INTRODUCTION. 


vn 


Boundary 
claims  and 
counter- 
claims. 


Frontier 
atrocities. 


Threatened 

Spanish 
attack  on 
Jamaica. 


suffered  at  the  Spaniards'  hands  over  a  period  of  years  (e.g.  233 
and  enclosures).  A  British  despatch  boat  arrived  in  Jamaica 
at  the  beginning  of  June  carrying  orders  for  the  Spanish  viceroys 
for  the  cessation  of  arms,  (239),  but  those  orders  made  little 
effect  upon  the  activities  of  the  privateers. 

The  Board  of  Trade  was  directed  by  Newcastle  to  prepare  a 
memorandum  upon  the  disputed  claims  to  territory  in  America 
and  especially  to  the  right  to  cut  logwood  in  the  Bay  of 
Campeachy  where  many  of  the  Spanish  confiscations  had  taken 
place.  The  order  was  given  on  May  9  (191)  and  the  Commis- 
sioners did  their  work  as  expeditiously  as  possible  in  order  to 
prepare  a  brief  for  the  British  plenipotentiaries  at  Soissons. 
When  they  presented  their  report  at  the  end  of  June  (291), 
it  set  forth  an  interesting  resume  of  the  rivalry  with  Spain  on 
the  Carolina  boundary  and  in  the  West  Indies  since  the  reign 
of  Charles  II.  The  Government  were  able  to  place  this  report 
side  by  side  with  the  budget  of  correspondence  that  had  passed 
between  the  Governor  of  Havana  and  President  Middleton, 
acting-Governor  of  South  Carolina  showing  how  complaint  was 
answered  by  complaint  and  what  a  complicated  wrangle  had 
gone  on  (281  and  many  enclosures). 

Middleton's  long  covering  letter  (281)  proved  what  a 
scrambling  and  cruel  struggle  had  been  going  on  in  the  unsettled 
frontier  regions  near  the  Altamaha  River.  The  disputes  about 
Fort  King  George  have  been  mentioned  in  previous  columns 
of  the  Calendar,  and  the  rival  attempts  to  stir  up  the  Indians 
on  either  side  with  their  stories  of  raids,  burnings  and  scalpings 
in  the  border  settlements  remind  one  on  a  smaller  scale  of  the 
more  celebrated  frontier  struggle  between  the  French  and  the 
English  in  the  Ohio  country  a  quarter  of  a  century  later.  The 
conditions  of  American  border  warfare  were  the  same  whether 
in  the  north  or  the  south,  near  the  Great  Lakes  or  between 
Carolina  and  Florida. 

The  news  of  the  publication  of  orders  for  the  cessation  of  arms 
reached  the  West  Indies  in  July,  (324),  but  the  Spanish  privateers 
continued  their  depredations,  as  we  learn  by  the  complaints 
from  many  of  the  island  colonies  (394).  By  September  it  was 
clear  that  the  negotiations  at  Soissons  had  failed,  and  the 


Vlll 


COLONIAL    PAPERS. 


New 
fortifica- 
tions. 


Treaty  of 
Seville. 


Government  learned  that  the  Spaniards  were  making 
preparations  to  despatch  naval  reinforcements  from  Europe 
and  were  planning  hostilities  against  the  British  West  Indies 
on  a  more  considerable  scale  (394).  It  was  believed  that 
Jamaica  was  threatened,  and  Governor  Hunter  was  warned 
to  put  the  island  immediately  in  a  state  of  defence.  Thence- 
forward for  the  next  twelve  months  the  despatches  to  and  from 
Jamaica  were  filled  with  discussions , of  the  fortification  of  the 
island  and  the  accounts  of  the  Governor's  incessant  activity  in 
carrying-out  the  orders  that  had  been  given  to  him  (see  especially 
601,  604,  605,  621,  677,  690,  780,  835).  Plans  for  counter-attack 
were  also  considered  ;  an  examination  was  made  of  the  contri- 
butions that  might  be  expected  from  the  North  American 
colonies  to  any  expedition  against  the  Spanish  possessions  in  the 
West  Indies.  (539),  and  Colonel  Hart,  lately  Governor  of  the 
Leeward  Islands,  was  consulted  about  a  plan  for  attacking 
Porto  Rico  (698).  Walpole  was  a  peace-loving  Prime  Minister, 
but  he  clearly  had  no  intention  of  being  caught  napping  if  his 
elaborate  diplomatic  moves  in  Europe  should  fail  and  war 
should  threaten  vital  British  interests  on  a  considerable  scale. 

It  was  the  well-understood  principle  that  H.M.  Plantations 
abroad  and  especially  the  most  considerable  of  them  were  to 
provide  themselves  with  the  necessaries  for  their  defence  (p.  408), 
but  the  circumstances  of  Jamaica  were  so  specially  dangerous 
and  the  Government  was  so  concerned  with  the  preservation  of 
so  valuable  a  part  of  the  Dominions  in  America  that  they  were 
willing  to  furnish  the  island  with  ordnance  and  all  manner  of 
necessary  stores  from  home,  and  Governor  Hunter  was  thus 
assured  that  the  new  fortifications  he  was  building  (835)  would 
be  properly  supplied,  although  no  provision  for  them  had  been 
made  by  Parliament  (780).  However,  by  June  1729,  it  appeared 
that  the  preparations  in  Spain  against  Jamaica  were  suspended, 
and  although  the  privateering  against  British  ships  in  the  West 
Indies  continued,  things  seemed  to  be  moving  towards  an 
accommodation  of  the  disputes  between  the  two  powers.  The 
course  of  events  was  set  out  in  a  memorandum,  probably 
prepared  by  Charles  Delafaye  for  the  Duke  of  Newcastle,  and 
though  it  is  not  dated,  it  was  certainly  prepared  in  the  latte 


INTRODUCTION. 


IX 


part  of  1729,  (1055),  after  the  negotiations  for  the  Treaty  of 
Seville  had  commenced  or  possibly  after  its  conclusion.  That 
took  place  in  November  1729,  and  England  and  Spain  were 
formally  at  peace  once  more  just  as  our  period  closes.  The 
peace  was  clearly  a  precarious  one,  and  the  writer  of  the 
memorandum  congratulated  the  ministry  that  at  any  rate  the 
preparations  that  had  involved  so  much  trouble  and  expense 
would  not  have  been  wasted,  for  Jamaica  was  in  an  excellent 
state  of  defence  against  any  future  eventualities  (p.  580). 


Questions 

under  the 

Neutrality 

Treaty 

of  1686. 


The  friendly  relations  subsisting  between  France  and  Great 

Britain    were    reflected    on    their    colonial    frontiers,    and    the 

despatches   contain   fewer   references   to   border  friction   than 

usual.     The  Treaty  of  Peace  and  Neutrality  of  1686  was  regarded 

as  still  being  in  force,  and  an  interesting  question  arose  under 

the  provisions  of  its  fifth  and  sixth  articles  and  was  referred 

to  the  Law  Officers  for  their  interpretation  (195).     By  them 

reciprocal   power   was   given   to   the   two   kings   to    seize   and 

confiscate  the  ships  and  cargoes  belonging  to  the  subjects  of 

either  which  should  carry  on  trade  contrary  to  the  articles. 

Thus  French  ships  trading  with  British  colonies  were  liable  to 

condemnation  by  H.M.  Courts  in  the  Plantations  and  vice  versa. 

It  was  admitted  that  the  British  authorities  could  seize  such 

ships,  but  the  question  was  asked  whether  an  obligation  was 

laid  upon  them  to  seize  British  ships  known  to  be  lading  for 

illicit  trade  with  the  French  colonies  contrary  to  the  provisions 

of  the  treaty.     The  Attorney  General,  Sir  Philip  Yorke,  and 

his  colleague  gave  the  opinion  that  there  was  no  obligation  to 

this  effect  in  the  treaty,  and  that  if  it  had  been  intended,  it  could 

only  be  carried  into  effect  with  regard  to  British  subjects  by 

confirming  the  Articles  either  by  an  Act  of  Parliament  or  by 

Acts   of   Assembly    within   the   respective    Plantations,    (230). 

As  certain  of  the  colonial  Governors  had  acted  in  a  contrary 

sense  and  had  proceeded  to  a  condemnation  of  British  ships 

under  pretence  of  contravening  the  treaty  by  trading  with  the 

French  colonies,  an  Order-in-Council  was  issued  to  the  Board 

of   Trade    directing   the    preparation    of   Instructions   for   the 

Governors  to  prevent  it  and  the  consideration  of  new  laws  to 


COLONIAL    PAPERS. 


French 

intrigues 

among 

the  Indians. 


Decline 
in  the 

functions  of 
the  Board 
of  Trade. 


be  passed  in  the  Plantations  to  prevent  British  subjects  from 
importing  the  products  of  the  French  Plantations.     (238). 

The  long  standing  difficulties  about  French  intrigues  among 
the  Indian  tribes  along  the  northern  part  of  the  frontier  were 
less  noticeable  than  in  earlier  years,  but  there  is  an  interesting 
memorial  from  a  trader  of  French  birth  but  British  allegiance, 
who  had  lived  for  many  years  among  the  Cherokees  and  Creeks 
along  the  border  of  South  Carolina,  showing  that  similar  intrigues 
were  being  carried  on  among  those  tribes  to  bring  them  under 
French  influence,  and  it  proves  that  French  designs  were  not 
confined  to  the  northern  tribes  but  were  inclusive  of  the  whole 
length  of  the  debatable  frontier  beyond  the  Alleghanies  from 
north  to  south  (396),  thus  containing  the  germs  of  much  future 
trouble.  The  long-standing  rivalry  between  the  French  and  the 
English  in  the  Windward  Islands  will  be  referred  to  later  when 
we  come  to  deal  with  the  West  Indies. 

Turning  to  points  of  general  interest  relating  to  the  govern- 
ment of  the  colonies,  we  find  many  indications  that  the  functions 
of  the  Board  of  Trade  and  Plantations  were  suffering  the  decline 
that  was  referred  to  in  previous  Introductions.  Though  the 
Board  was  constantly  receiving  orders  to  make  enquiries  into 
colonial  affairs  and  furnished  elaborate  reports  of  the  results 
of  their  deliberations,  there  is  no  doubt  that  the  effective  dis- 
cussion of  such  matters  took  place  in  the  Committees  of  the 
Privy  Council  where  the  decisions  were  taken,  to  be  embodied 
in  Orders-in-Council  or  to  be  conveyed  in  letters  from  the 
Secretary  of  State  to  the  Governors  of  the  colonies  concerned. 
Thus,  when  in  November  1728  serious  complaints  were  received 
from  the  Attorney- General  of  South  Carolina  against  the 
proceedings  of  President  Arthur  Middleton,  Acting-Governor 
of  the  colony,  the  Duke  of  Newcastle  did  not  refer  them  to  the 
Board  of  Trade  but  to  the  Lords  of  the  Committee  of  Council 
tp  consider  what  action  should  be  taken  to  replace  him.  (498  i). 
The  method  adopted  in  this  and  many  similar  cases  seems  to 
contain  the  germs  of  the  modern  system  of  discussion  in  Cabinet 
committees  ;  the  Board  of  Trade  might  be  consulted,  but  it 
was  purely  in  an  advisory  capacity  for  providing  information 


INTRODUCTION.  xi 


upon  which  the  Committee  of  Council  could  take  action.     The 

Privy 

Council  President  of  the  Board  of  Trade,  the  Earl  of  Westmoreland, 
was  in  a  far  more  powerful  position  than  any  other  member  of 
the  Board,  for  he  was  also  a  member  of  the  Council  Committee. 
This  decay  of  the  Board  was  fully  realised  by  those  concerned 
with  colonial  affairs,  and  there  is  an  interesting  memorandum  of 
1728  calendared  here  (514),  that  was  probably  prepared  by  Martin 
Bladen,  which  sets  forth  the  essentials  of  the  question.  The 
business  of  the  colonies  before  the  Privy  Council  (i.e.  the  effective 
Council  corresponding  to  the  modern  Cabinet)  was  usually  very 
much  in  arrear  owing  to  the  pressure  of  other  business,  and  the 
writer  of  the  memorandum  proposed  that  the  Council  should 
set  apart  a  certain  day  a  week  or  a  fortnight  for  Plantation 
affairs,  and  that  when  Lord  Westmoreland  was  absent  from 
Town  another  member  of  the  Board  might  always  attend  to 
give  any  information  that  was  wanting  to  explain  the  subject 
matter  of  their  reports  (pp.  270-1).  The  President  of  the  Board 
of  Trade  had  no  personal  access  to  the  King,  as  the  Chief  of 
the  Treasury  and  the  Admiralty  had,  that  is  to  say,  effective 
action  could  only  be  taken  by  the  Committee  of  Council.  Both 
the  writer  of  the  memorandum  and  Sir  William  Keith,  lately 
Governor  of  Pennsylvania,  whose  memorial  to  the  Crown 
(513  ii)  he  was  considering,  proposed  that  this  measure  of 
reform  should  be  adopted,  as  the  Board  had  proposed  on 
previous  occasions  (p.  271),  but  the  idea  ran  counter  to  the 
general  course  of  the  development  of  Cabinet  authority  and  it 
did  not  commend  itself  either  to  Walpole  or  to  Newcastle. 

The  decay  of  the  power  of  the  Board  in  relation  to  colonial 
TheJP°*rd  appointments  was  marked,  and  at  times  they  protested.  Thus 
and  Colonial  in  August  1728  Governor  Hunter  of  Jamaica  wrote,  not  to 

appoint- 
ments,       the  Board  but  to  the  Duke  of  Newcastle,  to  recommend  the 

choice  of  Mr.  Alexander  Forbes  to  be  a  member  of  Council  (342). 
This  was  regarded  by  the  Board  as  a  slight  upon  themselves  and 
their  Secretary,  Alured  Popple,  without  being  formally 
instructed  wrote  to  the  Governor  thus.  "  They  [i.e.  the  Board] 
have  recommended  Mr.  Forbes  to  be  of  the  Council  as  you  have 
desired.  Upon  this  occasion  I  must  observe  to  you  that  the 
Board  have  ever  thought  themselves  by  virtue  of  the  Com- 


xii  COLONIAL    PAPERS. 


mission  the  proper  persons  to  judge  of  the  qualifications  of  those 
who  are  recommended  to  be  of  any  of  H.M.  Councils  in  America  ; 
and  therefore  you  will  do  well  for  the  future  to  make  your 
application  to  them.  It  is  true  that  persons  have  sometimes 
been  proposed  to  a  Secretary  of  State  in  order  to  their  being 
appointed  Councillors,  but  the  Board's  opinion  has  ever  been 
asked,  and  none  has  been  named  but  upon  their  recommendation. 
This  I  don't  tell  you  by  order  of  the  Board,  but  I  thought  it 
might  be  of  service  to  you  to  receive  this  private  information." 
(469).  However,  when  the  Order-in-Council  was  issued  formally 
appointing  Forbes,  it  was  stated  to  be  "  as  proposed  by  the 
Council  of  Trade  "  (503),  and  so  their  face  was  saved.  But 
there  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  Board  commanded  little  credit 
either  at  home  or  in  the  colonies.  In  his  dispute  with 
Massachusetts,  for  example,  Colonel  Dunbar  had  to  protest 
in  support  of  the  Board's  report  upon  his  schemes  that  "  they 
are  not  a  set  of  broken  merchants,  as  some  people  [in  Boston] 
take  the  liberty  to  say,  but  men  of  quality,  character  and 
fortune,  and  members  of  either  House  of  Parliament."  (1042  ii). 

The  insatiable  demands  of  the  Board  for  information  were 
demancTstor  always  somewhat  neglected  by  the  smaller  colonies  and 
information,  especially  by  those  without  Royal  Governors,  for  the  authorities 
there  knew  that  there  was  no  way  of  effective  reproof  and  they 
were  anxious  to  escape  the  labour  of  collecting  the  data  required. 
As  a  rule,  the  Board  seem  to  have  let  things  slide,  but  occasion- 
ally they  bestirred  themselves  and  circular  letters  were  written 
to  demand  answers  to  their  enquiries.  Thus  in  June  1728  they 
wrote  to  Connecticut,  Rhode  Island  and  Maryland,  which  had 
been  particularly  slack  in  complying  with  requests  for  infor- 
mation. "  It  is  H.M.  pleasure  and  express  command  that  the 
Governors  of  all  his  foreign  Plantations  do  from  time  to  time 
give  unto  us  frequent  and  full  information  of  the  state  and 
condition  of  their  respective  Governments  and  Plantations, 
as  well  with  regard  to  the  administration  of  the  Government 
and  justice  in  those  places,  as  in  relation  to  the  commerce 
thereof :  and  more  particularly  that  the  said  Governors 
transmit  unto  us  yearly  accounts  of  their  said  administration 
by  way  of  Journal,  together  with  the  Acts  of  Assemblies."  None 


INTRODUCTION.  xiii 


of  these  had  been  regularly  supplied  by  the  colonies  concerned, 
and  in  fact  papers  from  them  are  noticeably  lacking  among  the 
documents  here  calendared.  The  Board  went  on  to  say  "  We 
remind  you  of  sending  over  a  complete  collection  of  the  laws, 
which  has  been  so  often  promised  some  years  ago  by  several 
Governors,  upon  letters  writ  them  from  the  Secretary  of  this 
Board  for  that  purpose."  (289).  But  no  compliance  with 
these  requests  could  be  secured  and  no  answer  appears  to  have 
been  received.  As  is  recorded  upon  the  endorsement,  duplicates 
of  the  letters  had  to  be  sent  in  1731,  and  the  incident  illustrates 
the  passive  neglect  by  these  smaller  colonies  of  the  regulations 
by  which  they  were  nominally  bound. 

In  December  1729  the  Commissioners  were  ordered  to  make 
a  general  representation  upon  the  state  of  the  king's  islands 
and  territories  in  America  and  they  forwarded  two  circular 
letters,  the  first  set  to  the  Governors  of  the  island  colonies 
(1009)  and  the  second  to  the  Governors  on  the  Continent  of 
America  (including  the  Governor  and  Company  of  Connecticut 
and  Rhode  Island),  (1011),  setting  forth  a  series  of  queries  to 
which  detailed  answers  were  required.  The  queries  differed 
somewhat  in  respect  of  the  islands  and  the  continental  colonies, 
but  in  each  case  the  Board  requested  that  an  annual  return 
should  be  made  to  the  queries  and  that  they  should  be  apprised 
from  time  to  time  of  any  alterations  happening  in  the  circum- 
stances of  the  respective  governments.  On  the  same  day  a 
special  enquiry  was  sent  to  Barbados  asking  whether  the 
precautions  mentioned  in  reply  to  their  previous  queries  in 
October  1724  by  the  appointment  of  a  sloop  to  prevent  goods 
running  in  small  creeks  had  been  effective  and  what  might  be 
done  to  discourage  a  smuggling  trade  with  Martinique  or  other 
foreign  plantations  without  burthening  the  revenue  of  the 
Customs  with  too  great  an  expense.  The  Board  concluded 
with  the  pointed  question  "  How  stand  the  generality  of  the 
people  of  Barbados  inclined  to  promote  or  discourage  a 
smuggling  trade  with  Martinico  or  any  other  foreign  Planta- 
tions "  ?  (1010  i),  for  they  had  reason  to  believe  that  a  consider- 
able leakage  went  on  not  only  to  the  French  islands  but  also 
to  the  Dutch  plantations  in  Surinam.  Barbados  was  in  special 


XIV 


COLONIAL    PAPERS. 


for 
the  Royal 
Family. 


Absentee 
Patent 
Officers. 


relation  with  the  disputed  Windward  Islands  and  the  settlements 
in  Guiana  just  as  Jamaica  was  with  the  logwood  cutters  of 
Campeachy  and  the  Moskito  Shore. 

In  the  Introduction  to  our  previous  volume  reference  was 
made  to  the  doubt  that  arose  in  certain  colonies,  particularly 
in  Barbados,  about  the  form  of  prayers  for  the  Royal  Family 
after  the  accession  of  George  II.  The  matter  was  now  formally 
cleared  up  by  Order-in-Council,  and  special  printed  instructions 
embodying  the  new  form  of  the  prayers  were  sent  out  to  all  the 
Governors  of  the  Plantations  (144). 

The  question  of  patentee  officers  and  their  employment  of 
deputies  gave  rise  to  the  introduction  of  special  clauses  into 
many  of  the  new  warrants  of  re-appointment  which  were 
necessary  at  the  beginning  of  the  reign.  A  series  of  such  letters 
of  re-appointment  will  be  found  under  date  29  February  1728, 
and  it  appears  that  Colonial  Secretaries  held  office  during 
pleasure  and  were  required  to  reside  and  not  "  be  absent 
without  H.M.  leave."  Similarly  Attorneys-General  and  Chief 
Justices  were  required  to  reside,  but  no  such  provision  was 
inserted  in  the  warrants  for  Clerks  of  the  Market.  The  Clerk 
of  the  Navy  Office  in  the  Leeward  Islands  could  serve  by  deputy, 
but  the  Naval  Officer  at  Piscataway  was  required  to  reside, 
(73-87  inclusive).  It  is  impossible,  however,  to  be  certain 
whether  there  was  a  settled  policy  in  regard  to  any  but  key 
appointments  or  whether  favouritism  was  shown  by  Newcastle 
in  particular  cases,  of  which  he  has  sometimes  been  accused. 
There  was  certainly  something  other  than  principle  at  work  in 
such  a  case  as  that  of  Thomas  Windham.  On  29  February  1728 
he  was  re-appointed  Register  of  the  Chancery  Court  and  of 
Patents  in  Jamaica,  and  a  clause  was  ordered  to  be  inserted  in 
his  warrant  obliging  him  to  reside.  (75).  But  on  March  21 
a  fresh  warrant  was  issued  to  him  granting  licence  of  absence 
to  him  and  permission  to  exercise  his  office  by  deputy,  "  he 
having  humbly  represented  that  being  employed  in  [the  king's] 
service  at  home,  he  cannot  without  prejudice  thereto,  as  well 
as  to  his  own  private  affairs,  attend  the  said  office  in  person." 
(126).  We  have  here,  in  fact,  a  patent  job  in  favour  of  a  member 
of  the  powerful  Windham  family. 


INTRODUCTION. 


xv 


Payment 

of  officers 

by  fees. 


Absentee 
Councillors. 


In  even  the  larger  of  the  island  colonies,  where  there  were  no 
salaries  attached  to  offices  and  the  holders  were  paid  by  fees, 
these  were  so  small  in  amount  that  one  man  had  to  hold  several 
offices  to  make  a  living.  Thus  Francis  Whitworth  was  at  the 
same  time  Secretary  of  Barbados,  Secretary  to  the  Governor 
and  Council  and  Clerk  of  the  several  Courts.  He  had  to  provide 
an  office  and  stationery  and  employ  clerks  to  copy  the  Minutes 
and  Acts,  but  he  found  it  difficult  to  obtain  payment  of  his  fees, 
and  in  1728  they  had  been  mounting  up  for  nine  years  and  had 
reached  the  sum  of  over  1300/.  which  he  had  to  petition  the 
Crown  to  recover  from  the  Barbados  legislature  (268,  288,  364). 
Barbados  was  prolific  in  Pooh  Bahs,  of  whom  William  Webster 
was  an  outstanding  example.  He  was  at  the  same  time  Deputy 
Public  (i.e.  Colonial)  Secretary,  Deputy  Secretary  to  the 
Governor  and  principal  Agent,  Major  of  the  Guards,  Master 
in  Chancery,  Captain  and  Chief  Gunner  of  the  forts,  Surveyor- 
General  and  Captain  and  Commander  of  the  Magazine  Guards. 
This  peculiar  combination  of  administrative,  military,  legal  and 
technical  offices  in  a  single  person  was  exceedingly  unpopular 
even  in  a  colony  that  was  used  to  such  things  and  Governor 
Worsley  was  hard  put  to  it  to  justify  his  acquiescence  in  the 
scandal,  (pp.  198-9). 

Constant  absence  from  their  duties  was  a  regular  cause  of 
complaint  not  only  against  the  officials  but  also  against  the 
members  of  Council  in  various  colonies.  The  Board  of  Trade, 
for  instance,  noted  that  various  councillors  of  St.  Christopher's, 
Antigua  and  Montserrat  had  been  in  England  for  a  long  time 
to  the  neglect  of  their  duties  and  courteously  demand  explana- 
tions and  an  indication  when  they  proposed  to  return  to 
the  islands  (158,  164  etc.).  In  various  cases  they  could 
obtain  no  satisfactory  answers,  and  since  the  Governors 
often  complained  that  they  could  not  get  a  quorum  to  carry 
on  the  work  of  the  Councils,  the  Board  from  time  to  time 
proposed  the  dismissal  of  Councillors  who  had  long  been 
absentees.  Such  complaints  were  far  commoner  in  the  island 
than  in  the  continental  colonies,  and  in  the  large  northern 
colonies  Councillors  were  rarely  absent  from  their  duties  for 
long  periods.  The  Councillorship  was  regarded  as  an  honour 


xvi  COLONIAL    PAPERS. 


to  be  sought  after,  and  those  who  were  appointed  performed 
their  duties  zealously  as  a  rule. 

Payment  of  members  of  the  Assembly  had  been  introduced 
m  many  of  the  colonies,  and  we  shall  note  later  when  we  come 
of  the        to  speak  of  the  disputes  in  Massachusetts  that  this  imposed  a 

Assemblies. 

considerable  charge  upon  the  colony.  In  Virginia  some 
interesting  constitutional  points  arose  in  this  connection  that 
date  back  in  their  origin  to  the  English  Parliaments  of  the 
fifteenth  century.  By  constitutional  precedent  the  salaries 
of  the  burgesses  for  their  days  of  attendance  were  chargeable 
only  on  the  inhabitants  of  the  respective  counties  by  whom 
they  were  chosen  (p.  124),  but  in  1728  the  burgesses  passed 
a  resolve  for  paying  their  own  attendance  in  Assembly  out  of 
the  public  funds  raised  by  a  duty  on  liquors.  This  resolve, 
being  sent  up  to  the  Council  for  their  concurrence,  was  rejected  : 
whereupon  the  burgesses  immediately  prepared  a  bill  to  apply 
the  public  funds  in  the  hands  of  the  Colonial  Treasurer  towards 
the  discharge  of  their  salaries.  But  this  was  even  more  distaste- 
ful to  the  Council  and  was  thrown  out  by  a  larger  majority 
than  before  to  the  great  discontent  of  the  House  of  Burgesses 
(p.  123).  They  insisted  that  the  duty  upon  liquors  was  raised 
to  lessen  the  levy  by  poll  tax,  which  had  been  appropriated  to 
the  payment  of  their  salaries  on  previous  occasions.  But  the 
Council  maintained  that  it  was  charged  equally  on  all  the 
people  of  the  colony,  and  that  it  would  be  an  unequal  distribution 
of  the  public  money  to  allow  the  same  share  of  it  to  a  county 
having  a  thousand  tithables  (i.e.  tax  payers)  as  to  one  having 
three  thousand.  The  Act  of  Assembly  which  appointed  salaries 
to  the  burgesses  expressly  provided  for  them  to  be  paid  by  the 
respective  counties,  and  the  Council  would  not  consent  to 
another  system  while  the  Act  subsisted,  (p.  124).  Lieutenant- 
Governor  Gooch  was  very  much  concerned  at  this  dispute,  which 
he  feared  would  be  detrimental  to  the  peace  of  his  adminis- 
tration, and  appealed  for  special  instructions  from  the  Board 
of  Trade  as  to  what  action  he  was  to  take,  but  no  immediate 
answer  seems  to  have  been  given. 

The  same  matter  arose  in  New  York  and  it  is  interesting  to 
note  that  a  similar  process  was  going  on  to  what  had  taken 


INTRODUCTION. 


xv  n 


Powers  of 

the 
Assemblies. 


Survival 
of  early 
constitu- 
tional 
practices. 


place  in  England  in  the  sixteenth  century  when  the  practice 
of  paying  members'  wages  fell  into  disuse.  Every  county  of 
the  Province  was  by  some  act  or  other  obliged  to  pay  their 
representatives,  but  some  of  them  agreed  beforehand  to  serve 
for  nothing,  others  made  bargains  at  a  rate  under  what  they 
supposed  they  were  authorised  to  demand.  Others  again  made 
higher  demands  than  the  supervisors  of  the  county  thought 
they  were  entitled  to,  some  demanding  ten  shillings  and  getting 
it,  others  contenting  themselves  with  six  shillings  because  they 
could  get  no  more.  To  settle  the  disputes  Acts  of  the  Assembly 
had  to  be  passed  fixing  the  amount,  (p.  474). 

The  vexed  question  of  the  powers  and  procedure  of  the 
Assemblies  appeared  again  during  this  period  in  certain  colonies 
and  notably  in  Barbados.  The  Assembly  there  maintained 
that  they  had  the  same  powers  as  the  House  of  Commons  in 
Great  Britain  and  that  they  had  a  coercive  power  to  call  before 
them  such  persons  as  were  able  to  give  evidence  relating  to 
grievances  and  to  send  for  persons,  papers  and  records  for  the 
discovery  and  redress  of  such  grievances.  Their  demand  for 
such  powers  had  been  denied  as  far  back  as  the  time  of  King 
William  III,  but  it  was  brought  up  again  by  the  Barbados 
Assembly  in  connection  with  their  dispute  with  Governor 
Worsley  over  fees  (390,  pp.  200-1).  In  Jamaica,  contrary  to 
the  practice  of  the  Councils  in  the  continental  colonies,  the 
Council  claimed  a  right  to  sit  by  themselves  when  in  their 
legislative  capacity,  but  this  Governor  Hunter  emphatically 
disavowed  and  insisted  that  he  must  be  present.  (392). 

Another  case  of  the  survival  of  earlier  English  constitutional 
practice  in  the  colonies  appears  in  relation  to  the  Courts  of 
Chancery.  The  Governor  was  entitled  to  sit  as  sole  judge  in 
Chancery,  and  in  Barbados  serious  complaint  was  made  that 
Governor  Worsley  was  accustomed  to  issue  injunctions  in  that 
judicial  capacity  which  obstructed  the  proper  course  of  justice. 
In  reply  to  those  complaints  the  Governor  admitted  that  he 
issued  injunctions,  but  maintained  that  they  were  lawful.  He 
stated  that  upon  his  arrival  in  Barbados  he  found  that  writs 
of  injunction  were  granted  till  the  merits  of  a  cause  should  be 
heard,  even  after  judgment  had  been  given  in  the  lower  Courts, 

\Vt.  1525  C.P.  XXXVI— B 


xviii  COLONIAL    PAPERS. 


whence  sometimes  the  cause  did  not  come  to  be  heard  in  four 
or  five  years.  He  granted  such  injunctions  only  till  answer  and 
further  order,  so  that  in  two  months  time  by  motion  it  might 
come  before  the  Court  of  Chancery,  and  upon  hearing  the  merits 
of  the  petition  the  injunction  might  be  continued  or  dissolved, 
(p.  101).  The  Governor  went  on  to  make  a  rule  as  to  costs, 
which  shows  that  he  was  in  such  matters  exercising  judicial 
functions  in  person,  thus  mingling  them  with  his  proper 
executive  functions,  and  giving  rise  to  the  confusion  of  powers 
which  later  in  the  century  became  such  an  important  cause  of 
grievance  in  the  colonies. 

The  same  matter  arose  in  Antigua,  where  by  an  Act  of  1715 
no  Court  of  Chancery  could  be  held  unless  the  Governor  was 
personally  present  in  Council  (p.  294),  and  an  amending  Act 
had  to  be  passed  to  permit  the  Lieutenant-General  of  the 
Leeward  Islands,  the  Lieutenant-Governor  of  Antigua  or  the 
President  of  Council  to  serve  in  the  Governor's  absence.  The 
Court  consisted  of  him  and  five  members  of  Council,  and  the 
provision  for  a  substitute  would  save  the  suitors  of  the  Court 
"  the  charges  of  sloop  hire  in  following  the  General  [Governor] 
for  the  Great  Seal,  when  he  is  absent,  and  also  freed  from  the 
danger  of  losing  their  process  as  well  as  exposing  their  persons 
which  men  are  so  often  liable  to  who  frequent  the  seas."  Great 
difficulties,  too,  occurred  about  injunctions.  An  injunction 
that  had  been  dissolved  by  the  Governor  and  Council  at  Antigua 
sitting  as  the  Court  of  Chancery  was  sometimes  upon  application 
to  the  Chief  Governor  revived  by  him  alone,  so  that  contrary 
orders  and  rules  were  made  and  very  great  delays  and  charges 
thereby  accrued  to  suitors,  (p.  294). 

Such  complaints  are  exactly  reminiscent  of  those  that  were 
common  in  England  four  centuries  before,  when  the  fact  that 
the  Great  Seal  followed  the  Court  in  its  progresses  gave  rise  to 
great  inconveniences.  The  trial  of  actions  before  the  King 
in  person  had  long  disappeared  from  English  practice,  but  here 
in  the  West  Indies  we  find  the  Governor,  the  King's 
representative,  administering  justice  in  his  own  capacity, 
although  a  layman  without  legal  training.  We  may  almost 
look  upon  the  colonies  as  places  for  the  survival  of  early  legal 


INTRODUCTION. 


xix 


Chancery 
jurisdiction 

in 
New  York. 


forms,  as  in  our  own  day  the  remoter  mountain  communities  of 
America  have  been  found  to  have  preserved  primitive  folk 
music. 

In  New  York  the  troubles  over  Chancery  jurisdiction  became 
serious.  The  Court  of  Chancery  occasioned  more  uneasiness 
to  Governor  Hunter  and  his  successor  William  Burnet  than 
all  the  other  parts  of  their  administration.  It  was  strongly 
contended  by  one  party  in  the  colony  that  Governors  were  by 
law  incapable  of  being  the  sole  judge  in  Chancery,  and  that 
establishment  of  that  or  any  other  Court  of  Equity  save  by 
Act  of  the  General  Assembly  was  illegal.  Another  party,  not 
so  violent,  planned  to  have  a  Court  of  Chancery  established 
in  the  Governor  and  Council,  i.e.  similar  to  the  plan  we  have 
noticed  in  Antigua,  but  Governor  Montgomerie  found  the  people 
so  divided  and  yet  so  stubborn  in  their  opinions  that  he  would 
not  act  as  Chancellor  until  he  had  special  directions  thereupon 
(p.  254).  This  discontinuance  of  the  Court  of  Chancery  to  the 
great  prejudice  of  all  those  who  had  causes  depending  there 
was  attributed  by  Lewis  Morris,  Chief  Justice  of  the  Colony, 
as  due  to  a  timid  and  pusillanimous  condescension  in  the 
Council  and  the  Governor  in  the  insolent  pretensions  of  the 
Assembly.  (827).  In  his  letter  there  was  enclosed  a  printed 
paper  published  by  Governor  Hunter  in  1713  in  reply  to  the 
resolution  of  the  Assembly  that  the  erecting  or  exercising  a 
Court  of  Equity  or  Chancery  without  consent  in  General 
Assembly  was  contrary  to  the  laws  of  England  and  a  manifest 
oppression.  (827  iii).  The  dispute  had  thus  been  going  on  for 
fifteen  years  at  least  before  Montgomerie  came  upon  the  scene. 

The  lead  against  the  contentions  of  the  Assembly  in  this 
matter  was  taken  by  Chief  Justice  Morris,  and  Richard  Bradley, 
the  Attorney-General  of  New  York,  was  also  in  conflict  with  the 
Assembly.  Some  of  their  disputes  were  only  of  interest  to  New 
York,  but  other  matters  were  included  that  have  a  general 
bearing  upon  the  constitutional  history  of  the  colonies  and  the 
desire  of  the  assemblies  to  whittle  down  the  Crown's  prerogative. 
One  of  these  concerned  prosecutions  by  informations.  By 
Common  Law  the  King  in  the  person  of  his  Governor  had  the 
power  of  prosecuting  by  information  without  the  leave  of  any 


XX 


COLONIAL    PAPERS. 


of  the  subjects.  The  Assembly  attempted  to  limit  this  power 
by  passing  an  Act  vesting  it  not  in  the  Governor  with  the 
Supreme  Court's  advice  but  in  the  Governor  in  Council,  where 
the  members  and  their  friends  might  prevent  action  in  cases 
affecting  themselves.  As  the  Attorney-General  told  the  Duke 
of  Newcastle,  it  was  generally  believed  that  the  leading  men  in 
the  Assembly  had  formed  a  design  not  only  to  screen  themselves 
and  friends  by  this  law  from  all  prosecutions  of  this  sort,  though 
never  so  just  or  necessary,  (which  seemed  to  be  almost  the  only 
means  the  Crown  had  to  check  the  levelling  spirit  that  too 
plainly  appeared  among  the  generality  of  the  people  of  the 
colonies),  but  also  to  break  in  upon  and  weaken  H.M.  prerogative 
and  interest.  (4,  5). 

Another  direction  in  which  the  Assembly  of  New  York  was 

signature     attempting  to  limit  the  prerogative  as  administered  by  the 

warrants.      Governor  was  concerned  with  the  signature  of  warrants  for  the 

payment  of  moneys  out  of  the  Treasury.     By  their  Revenue 

Bill  of  1726  the  Assembly  had  voted  strict  appropriations  for 

various  objects,  including  officers'   salaries.     Governor  Burnet 

had  paid  these  salaries  without  a  strict  compliance  with  the 

votes,  and  in  retaliation  in  passing  their  next  Revenue  Bill  for 

five  years  they  lessened  the  support  of  the  Government  from 

what  it  was  before,  reducing  the  salaries  of  those  officers  who 

were  unpopular  with  them.     Governor  Montgomerie  felt  himself 

bound  to  reduce  some  salaries  in  proportion  to  the  reduced 

amount  of  the  Revenue  voted,  before  he  drew  the  warrants  for 

their  payment.     He  did  this  according  to  his  own  discretion 

after  informing  himself  of  the  services  of  the  respective  officers. 

(pp.  421-2).     In  the  case  of  Chief  Justice  Morris,  his  son  who 

was  a  member  of  Council  objected,  and  the  Governor  took  the 

unusual  course  of  putting  the  question  to  the  Council  whether 

they  would  advise  him  to  sign  the  warrant  for  the  reduced 

salary.     This  was  the  first  recorded  instance  of  the  Council's 

advice  being  particularly  asked  about  the  Governor's  signing 

salary  warrants.     They  advised  him  to  sign  this  and  the  other 

warrants,   but  Lewis  Morris  raised  the  whole  question  by  a 

formal    protest,   which    Governor    Montgomerie   forwarded   to 

Newcastle.     He  maintained  that,  if  the  Assembly's  contentions 


INTRODUCTION.  Xxi 


about  appropriations  were  accepted  in  order  to  keep  peace  with 
them  and  persuade  them  to  vote  the  revenue  as  the  Governor 
was  planning  to  do,  the  royal  prerogatives  would  be  seriously 
infringed.  "  The  resolutions  of  the  Assembly "  he  said 
"  compared  with  the  conduct  of  some  Assemblies  in  H.M. 
American  Dominions  too  evidently  show  with  what  views  those 
resolutions  are  made  and  of  what  dangerous  consequence  to 
H.M.  interest  and  prerogatives  in  his  American  dominions  the 
giving  them  so  great  an  encouragement  to  persist  in  their 
exorbitant  demands  and  encroachments  on  the  royal  prerogative 
as  the  drawing  the  salary  warrants  according  to  their  resolves 
will  be."  (799  i,  p.  424). 

In  the  whole  of  this  volume  there  is  no  greater  space  devoted 
to  a  single  subject  than  to  the  question  of  promoting  the  supplies 
the  colonies.  of  naval  stores  from  America.  The  condition  of  affairs  in  the 
Baltic  countries,  whence  the  great  bulk  of  our  naval  stores 
came,  was  so  disturbed  and  our  relations  with  Sweden  and 
Russia  so  strained  throughout  the  whole  of  this  period  that 
the  Government  were  resolved  to  put  forth  strenuous  efforts 
to  find  new  sources  of  supply  of  the  materials  upon  which  our 
naval  power  was  founded.  We  have  noted  in  our  preceding 
volume  how  the  matter  became  acute  during  1726  and  1727, 
and  here  our  first  document  of  importance  on  the  subject  is  an 
Order-in-Council,  (50),  to  the  Board  of  Trade  directing  them  to 
consider  and  report  immediately  upon  a  memorial  presented 
by  the  Lords  Commissioners  of  the  Admiralty.  They  repre- 
sented the  illegal  and  unaccountable  waste  and  destruction  of 
the  king's  woods  in  North  America  and  the  unjustifiable  liberty 
of  the  inhabitants  of  New  England  in  converting  the  trees 
absolutely  necessary  for  masts  to  their  own  use.  The  contractor 
for  masts  from  New  England  had  represented  to  them  that  not 
only  had  the  timber  suitable  for  masts  been  destroyed,  but 
much  had  been  exported  to  foreign  countries.  They  attributed 
much  of  the  trouble  to  the  negligence  of  the  Surveyor-General 
of  the  Woods,  Mr.  Burniston,  who  having  been  appointed  in 
1718  had  never  personally  been  in  North  America  but  constantly 
resided  in  England  and  never  even  gave  them  any  account  of 


xxii  COLONIAL    PAPERS. 


his  proceedings,  even  by  deputy.  The  Lords  Commissioners 
represented  that  it  was  absolutely  necessary  that  the  Surveyor- 
General  should  constantly  reside  in  North  America  and  employ 
his  utmost  care  and  skill  not  only  in  surveying  the  king's  woods 
there  and  preserving  them  from  waste,  but  in  instructing  and 
encouraging  the  inhabitants  to  propagate  all  sorts  of  stores 
which  the  country  would  produce.  Thus  American  pitch  and 
turpentine  might  be  substituted  for  that  of  Sweden  and  Russia, 
Virginian  for  Riga  hemp,  and  so  on.  (pp.  34-5). 

The  Earl  of  Westmoreland,  who  had  been  present  at  the 
Council  when  the  Admiralty  memorial  was  considered, 
represented  to  the  Board  the  seriousness  and  urgency  of  the 
problem,  and  it  was  at  once  decided  to  call  into  counsel  Colonel 
Spotswood,  late  Lieutenant-Governor  of  Virginia,  (Journal, 
pp.  383-4)  and  to  request  him  to  give  his  opinion  in  writing. 
Other  gentlemen  and  merchants  familiar  with  the  northern 
colonies  were  also  summoned  (Journal,  p.  389),  but  it  was  from 
Col.  Spotswood  that  the  most  valuable  information  was  received. 
Within  a  fortnight  after  receiving  the  order  he  returned  a  full 
and  detailed  letter  (94,  pp.  47-53)  tracing  the  history  of  what 
had  previously  been  done  in  regard  to  naval  stores  other  than 
masts  and  giving  also  a  resume  of  the  state  of  our  trade  in  such 
things  with  the  Northern  Powers.  The  Board  at  once  decided 
to  prepare  a  draft  for  an  Act  of  Parliament  "  for  the  better 
and  more  effectual  preservation  of  His  Majesty's  woods  in 
America,  and  encouraging  the  importation  of  naval  stores  from 
thence."  No  time  was  lost,  for  on  the  following  day  the  draft 
of  the  bill  was  submitted  to  Francis  Fane  for  his  opinion  on 
points  of  law,  (Journal,  p.  389)  and  thenceforward  the  Board 
considered  it  from  day  to  day  until  it  was  sent  with  a  covering 
memorandum  to  the  Duke  of  Newcastle  a  fortnight  later 
(Journal,  p.  391  ;  118,  133,  156).  When  circumstances 
demanded,  the  Board  could  obviously  work  with  energy  and 
decision. 

The  memorandum  thus  forwarded  traces  the  history  of  the 
King's  woods  in  America  and  their  destruction  since  the 
beginning  of  the  century  and  the  premiums  offered  for  the 
production  of  naval  stores,  including  tar,  hemp,  turpentine  and 


INTRODUCTION. 


xxm 


Appoint- 
ment of 
Colonel 
David 
Dunbar 
as  Surveyor- 
General  of 
the  King's 
Woods  in 
America. 


Settlement 
of  Nova 
Scotia. 


iron,  so  that  it  makes  a  good  starting  point  for  a  study  of  the 
whole  of  this  important  question. 

Before  the  preparation  of  this  memorandum  the  Board  had 
already  taken  into  consideration  the  Instructions  to  be  issued 
to  Colonel  David  Dunbar,  the  energetic  Surveyor-General  of 
the  Leeward  Islands,  who  received  his  commission  as  Surveyor- 
General  of  the  Woods  in  America  at  the  beginning  of  January 
(Journal,  p.  373).  He  was  directed  to  reside  in  America  in 
place  of  the  incompetent  Burniston,  who  had  admitted  in  1724 
that  he  had  left  the  functions  of  his  office  in  the  hands  of 
Governor  John  Wentworth  of  New  Hampshire  (Journal,  p.  112) 
and  the  Deputy-Surveyor  Robert  Armstrong  whom  we  have 
noted  in  our  previous  volume  as  Lieutenant-Governor  of  Nova 
Scotia.  New  Hampshire  and  Nova  Scotia,  especially  the 
disputed  part  of  that  province  lying  upon  the  mainland,  were 
the  regions  from  which  the  masts,  the  most  essential  part  of 
the  naval  supplies,  were  obtained,  appear  constantly  in  the 
voluminous  correspondence  that  passed  in  the  succeeding 
months,  and  the  question  of  the  promotion  of  their  supply 
became  merged  in  that  of  the  formation  of  a  new  province  in 
the  regions  between  them. 

The  Board  fully  realised  that  the  question  of  the  supply  of 
naval  stores  was  connected  with  the  settlement  of  Nova  Scotia 
(p.  110)  and  that  the  appointment  of  an  energetic  Surveyor- 
General  would  promote  that  object.  The  instructions  to  David 
Dunbar  were  very  carefully  prepared  and  are  here  printed  in 
detail  (234  i,  pp.  110-2).  Additional  instructions  were  sent  to 
the  Governors  of  New  Hampshire,  Massachusetts,  Rhode 
Island,  Connecticut,  New  York  and  New  Jersey  directing  them 
to  aid  and  assist  the  Surveyor-General  and  his  deputies  (267, 
286).  Dunbar  did  not  go  out  to  America  at  once,  but  remained 
in  London  in  constant  consultation  with  the  Board  while  he 
employed  his  brother,  Jeremiah  Dunbar,  as  his  deputy  to  travel 
through  New  England  and  put  a  stop  to  the  destruction  of  the 
woods,  which  was  admittedly  rampant.  (516).  It  is  impossible 
to  trace  here  the  results  of  his  energy  in  detail,  and  reference 
should  be  made  to  the  documents  themselves  (notably  303,  359, 
517,  547,  564,  627,  638,  670,  753).  He  became  immersed  in 


xxiv  COLONIAL    PAPERS. 


the  project  for  a  new  settlement  of  Palatines  to  the  east  of  the 
Kennebec  River  and  was  in  frequent  attendance  at  the  Board 
to  discuss  it  until  in  May  1729  he  received  a  severe  reprimand 
ordering  him  to  take  up  his  other  work  in  person  and  no  longer 
trust  merely  to  his  brother  and  other  deputies  (753).  Even  in 
July,  however,  he  appears  still  to  have  been  in  London  (892), 
leaving  the  active  surveying  in  America  to  be  carried  on  by 
his  deputies,  Jeremiah  Dunbar  and  Arthur  Slade. 

In  July  1729  an  important  memorial  was  received  by  the 
Board  from  certain  London  merchants  through  Thomas  Lowndes 
concerning  the  establishment  of  a  new  industry  in  America 
which  was  to  be  of  very  great  importance  in  later  years.     This 
was  the  preparation  of  potash  in  the  American  woods.     The 
Emperor  of  Russia  was  then  the  sole  proprietor  of  potash  and 
pearl  ash,  and  Lowndes  maintained  that  by  the  returns  he  had 
from  those  commodities  from  England,  Holland,  Flanders  and 
France  that  monarch  chiefly  paid  his  troops.     If  that  branch 
of  his  trade  were  affected,  he  could  not  make  the  figure  he  did 
(847)  (Journal,  p.  56).     The  merchants  represented  that  English 
imports  of  pot  ashes  and  pearl  ashes,  which  were  always  bought 
with  specie,  amounted  to  more  than  100,000/.  yearly.     These 
commodities   were   chiefly   used   in   making   soap,    which   was 
absolutely  necessary  in  the  woollen  manufacture  and  in  dyeing, 
as  also  in  bleaching  linen.     The  Russian  pot  ashes  had  been 
for  a  long  time  monopolised  by  a  few  persons  who  could  set 
what  price  they  pleased  upon  them  to  the  great  prejudice  of 
commerce  (847  i).     Lowndes  consulted  Sir  William  Keith  upon 
the  project  and  received  his  warm  support,  for  he  believed  that 
the  American  woods  were  richer  in  the  vegetable  salts  needed 
than  European  wood.    If  the  people  of  America  were  encouraged 
to  go  upon  so  profitable  a  manufacture  in  the  winter  season  when 
they  had  most  leisure,  it  would  insensibly  draw  them  off  from 
employing  that  part  of  their  time  in  working  up  both  woollen 
and    linen    cloth    (847  i,  ii).       Lowndes    proposed    that    some 
persecuted  Protestant  families   of  Poland,   who    were   perfect 
masters  of  that  mystery,  might  be  encouraged  to  settle  in  North 
America.     (847  i). 


INTRODUCTION. 


XXV 


Proposals 

for  new 

settlements. 


Emigrants 

from 
Northern 
Ireland. 


This  connection  of  naval  stores  and  new  industries  in  America 
as  a  method  of  diverting  the  colonists  from  engaging  in 
manufactures  is  set  out  in  many  of  the  documents,  (e.g.  481, 
482,  490,  504).  Dunbar's  work  in  regard  to  it  was,  as  we  have 
said,  soon  merged  in  the  schemes  for  planting  the  lands  between 
the  River  St.  Croix,  which  was  the  boundary  of  Nova  Scotia, 
and  the  River  Kennebec  which  was  that  of  Maine.  (285). 
These  were  put  for\vard  by  Thomas  Coram,  the  celebrated 
founder  of  the  Foundling  Hospital,  and  in  a  long  memorial 
presented  in  June  1728  he  set  forth  the  history  of  the  tract 
and  disputed  the  claim  of  Massachusetts  to  monopolise  it.  It 
was  loosely  included  in  the  region  called  Nova  Scotia,  and  Coram 
maintained  that  the  whole  territory  from  Cape  Gaspe  to  the 
Kennebec  had  finally  been  ceded  by  the  French  by  the  Treaty 
of  Utrecht  in  1713  so  that  no  interference  might  be  feared  from 
them  (p.  139).  He  now  applied  for  permission  to  take  up  again 
the  projects  he  had  put  forward  under  Queen  Anne  and  George  I 
for  settling  the  said  tract  especially  to  further  the  production 
of  hemp  and  other  naval  stores,  (p.  140).  He  proposed  to 
use  veteran  soldiers  and  foreign  Protestants  and  continued 
"  As  there  will  continually  be  great  numbers  of  future  convicts 
condemned  in  Great  Britain  and  Ireland  to  serve  a  term  of  years 
in  H.M.  Plantations,  and  to  be  transported  thither  at  the  Crown's 
expense  as  they  are  now  transported  :  they  cannot  be  sent  to 
any  other  part  so  advantageous  to  the  Crown  as  to  employ  them 
under  strict  and  prudent  management  for  the  service  of  H.M. 
in  clearing  and  cultivating  the  said  waste  and  derelict  land  for 
the  complete  furnishing  in  due  time  [of]  constant  and  full 
supplies  of  hemp  and  masts  for  the  Navy,  each  convict  to  have 
after  the  expiration  of  his  sentence  a  small  portion  of  land." 
(pp.  140-1).  In  addition  to  these  convicts  many  vagabonds 
in  the  Cities  of  London  and  Westminster  might  be  apprehended 
and  sent  away,  as  he  [Coram]  "  had  seen  above  800  able-bodied 
beggars,  ballad-singers  and  other  vagabonds  seized  in  one  day 
in  the  streets  of  Paris  and  sent  away  to  Mississippi."  (p.  141). 

The  Board  of  Trade  do  not  seem  to  have  been  impressed  with 
the  practicability  of  forming  a  colony  with  such  wretched 
material,  but  they  had  other  emigrants  on  their  hands  and  they 


XXVI 


COLONIAL    PAPERS. 


Proposed 

settlements 

in  Nova 

Scotia. 


strove  to  solve  more  than  one  problem  at  once.  It  was  noted 
in  earlier  volumes  of  this  Calendar  that  Protestant  families  of 
Irish  were  emigrating  from  Northern  Ireland  and  were  settling 
in  the  frontier  districts  of  the  territory  of  Maine  which  was 
under  the  control  of  Massachusetts.  There  they  were  regarded 
with  great  disfavour  by  the  Massachusetts  Assembly  who 
disputed  their  claims  to  the  lands  that  had  been  assigned  them. 
They  were  compelled  to  remove  by  an  Act  of  the  Assembly,  and 
their  farms  were  devastated  in  the  course  of  the  Indian  war. 
David  Dunbar  in  pursuit  of  Coram's  scheme  now  entered  into 
negotiation  with  them  and  applied  to  the  Secretary  of  State 
to  employ  them  as  the  nucleus  of  his  new  colony.  He  wrote 
that  there  were  600  families  of  these  Irish  Protestants  who  were 
desirous  of  settling  on  the  east  side  of  the  River  Kennebec,  if 
lands  might  be  assigned  to  them,  and  were  living  in  great  distress 
upon  the  small  remains  of  what  they  had  carried  with  them  from 
Ireland.  (628  i).  They  did  not  agree  well  with  the  intolerant 
and  exclusive  men  of  Massachusetts  who  threatened  and 
insulted  them  as  foreigners  (p.  497),  but  they  were  undoubtedly 
first-rate  colonising  material,  and,  as  they  desired  to  settle  near 
New  England,  Dunbar  believed  that  it  would  be  more 
advantageous  to  help  them  to  settle  in  a  group  than  to  allow 
them  to  scatter  through  the  colonies  further  south.  He  could 
not  get  them  to  settle  in  Nova  Scotia  because  of  the  presence 
of  the  French  Roman  Catholic  Acadians  with  whom  they  would 
not  mix.  (630,  631  i). 

The  Board  of  Trade  were  seriously  concerned  with  the 
preponderance  of  French  in  Nova  Scotia,  for  for  want  of  British 
inhabitants  that  province  had  been  an  expensive  burthen  to 
Great  Britain  ever  since  it  had  been  ceded  by  the  Treaty  of 
Utrecht.  The  French  had  reaped  the  real  advantages  from  the 
produce  of  the  country,  although  they  refused  to  take  the  oath 
of  allegiance  to  the  Crown  (pp.  329,  330).  The  Board  were 
therefore  adverse  to  Dunbar's  scheme  to  the  east  of  the  Kennebec 
and  desired  instead  to  make  large  settlements  round  Annapolis 
Royal  and  Canso,  where  they  might  raise  naval  stores  and  further 
the  progress  of  new  fisheries.  They  proposed  a  detailed  scheme 
for  making  land  grants  to  new  settlers  free  of  quit-rents  for 


INTRODUCTION.  xxvii 


some  years  and  to  encourage  the  unmarried  men  to  intermarry 
with  the  Indians  and  so  raise  up  a  Protestant  population  which 
should  be  a  safeguard  against  the  disloyalty  of  the  French. 
Though  these  schemes  ultimately  came  to  nothing,  they  are  of 
real  interest  as  showing  what  a  large  amount  of  thought  was 
being  given  to  schemes  of  assisted  emigration  and  how  the 
failure  to  build  up  a  new  colony  in  Nova  Scotia  was  not  due  to 
neglect  but  to  circumstances  over  which  governmental  planning 
could  exercise  no  control. 

Despite  the  unfavourable  attitude  of  the  Board  of  Trade, 
The         Dunbar  persisted  in  his  schemes  (929)  for  a  new  province  to  be 

Province  of 

"  Georgia."  called  "  Georgia  "  between  the  Kennebec  and  the  St.  Croix 
Rivers.  He  strongly  contested  the  claims  of  a  group  of 
Massachusetts  men  under  the  lead  of  the  turbulent  and  litigious 
agitator  Dr.  Cook,  who  called  themselves  the  Muscongos 
Company  and  produced  what  they  pretended  to  be  charters 
to  the  lands  going  back  as  far  as  1629.  (p.  497).  Dunbar 
pointed  out  that  "  the  famous  Doctor  "  was  the  oracle  of  the 
stiff-necked  generation  who  were  contesting  against  the  rights 
of  the  Crown  in  Massachusetts,  and  he  urged  that  the  establish- 
ment and  support  of  a  new  colony  on  the  Kennebec  round 
churches  where  the  rites  of  the  Church  of  England  could  be 
administered  without  discouragement  from  those  selfish  and 
dogmatical  people,  who  hated  the  Church  and  the  Presbyterians 
alike,  would  curb  their  disloyalty  (p.  499).  A  single  paragraph 
from  one  of  Dunbar's  many  letters  on  the  subject  both  illustrates 
the  unity  of  the  colonial  history  of  the  period  and  shows  how 
longstanding  were  some  of  the  controversies  that  came  to  head 
in  the  years  immediately  preceding  the  American  Revolution. 
"  This  Continent  "  he  wrote  "  deserves  a  Bishop  residing,  [for] 
I  am  informed  that  wherever  churches  have  been  built,  people 
have  always  resorted.  [I  pray]  that  his  residence  may  be  in 
'  Georgia,'  where  provision  may  be  made  for  him  out  of  the 
quit-rents.  I  am  firmly  persuaded  that  a  good  man  who  would 
take  pains  this  way  and  encourage  schools,  might  in  time  work 
a  reformation  among  these  independents.  I  could  wish  that 
Dean  Berkeley's  College  may  go  on,  and  that  '  Georgia  '  might 
be  thought  a  proper  place  for  it."  (p.  499). 


xxviii  COLONIAL    PAPERS. 


In  addition  to  the  Irish  Presbyterians  it  was  proposed  that 
importation    families  of  Palatines  should  be  introduced  as  settlers  for  the 

of 

Palatines,  new  province  and  the  Kennebec,  and  Coram  and  Dunbar  entered 
into  negotiations  with  one  David  Hintze  who  proposed  at  41. 
per  head  to  procure  from  the  Palatinate  3,  4  or  500  families 
averaging  four  persons  each  "  who  to  avoid  the  persecution 
they  now  groan  under  will  be  willing  to  transport  themselves 
at  their  own  expense  to  any  country  having  a  fertile  soil  that 
H.M.  shall  be  graciously  pleased  to  appoint  them  between  the 
Rivers  Kennebec  and  St.  Croix."  For  a  less  fertile  province 
he  could  only  procure  100  families  (683  i). 

The  number  of  documents  concerning  these  many  proposals 
is  very  considerable  in  the  volume,  and  it  is  impossible  to  do 
more  than  refer  to  the  main  lines  of  the  schemes.  Further 
reference  to  them  may  be  made  by  use  of  the  index.  (See 
notably  309,  628,  630,  683,  694,  695,  705,  710,  929,  932,  997, 
1005,  1018,  1019,  1042,  1045,  1049). 


II. 
THE    CONTINENTAL    COLONIES. 

In  the  Introduction  to  our  previous  volume  we  referred  to 
the  fact  that  William  Burnet,  who  had  proved  his  strength 
inMassachu-  and  capacity  as  Governor  of  New  York  and  New  Jersey,  was 

setts. 

transferred  to  the  Governorship  of  Massachusetts  to  handle 
the  difficult  problem  of  controlling  the  Assembly  of  that  most 
factious  of  all  the  colonies.  Burnet's  last  despatch  concerning 
the  affairs  of  New  York  was  dated  3  July  1728  (307),  and  in 
it  he  announced  that,  having  handed  over  the  government  to 
Colonel  Montgomerie  (187),  he  was  at  once  proceeding  to  Boston. 
He  arrived  there  on  July  19  and  met  the  Assembly  on  the  24th 
(386).  The  battle  was  joined  at  once,  and,  when  he  sent  his 
first  despatch  from  Boston  in  the  middle  of  September,  Burnet 
wrote  that  he  had  been  sitting  with  the  Assembly  ever  since 
his  arrival  in  order  to  obtain  from  them  a  fixed  salary  in 
accordance  with  his  Instructions  (386).  He  announced  that 
he  intended  to  continue  the  session  until  they  complied,  "  so 


INTRODUCTION.  xxix 


that  the  country  who  pay  1000Z.  a  month  to  the  Council  and 
Representatives  by  way  of  wages  during  their  attendance,  may 
feel  the  inconvenience  of  their  standing  out."  (387).  At  the 
end  of  the  month  he  reported  that  he  had  reduced  them  to 
silence  and  that  they  seemed  to  have  no  expedient  left  but  to 
meet  and  adjourn  from  day  to  day  and  do  nothing.  He  would 
give  them  no  recess,  and  under  the  terms  of  their  charter  they 
did  not  dare  take  it  of  themselves.  He  would  not  accept  the 
presents  they  offered  him,  for  he  chose  to  be  destitute  of  all 
support  rather  than  give  way  on  the  important  matter  of  principle 
involved.  (404).  So  matters  went  on  till  October  24  when  the 
Assembly  flatly  refused  to  comply  with  the  Governor's  demand 
for  a  fixed  salary  according  to  his  Instructions,  and  Burnet 
determined  to  remove  the  legislature  from  Boston,  whose  free- 
holders were  assembling  in  public  meetings  to  withstand  him. 
(429  i).  He  had  adjourned  the  General  Court  to  Salem,  he 
told  the  Board  of  Trade,  for  the  following  reasons,  "  This 
town  of  Boston  has  shown  their  disrespect  and  undutifulness 
to  H.M.  by  calling  a  general  town  meeting  of  all  the  freemen 
of  this  town  "  and  the  example  has  been  followed  by  some 
towns  in  the  Province  and  three  or  four  have  unanimously 
given  instructions  to  their  members  to  vote  against  fixing  a 
salary  on  the  Governor.  "  This  attempt,  of  which  Boston  set 
the  example,  is  of  so  dangerous  a  nature  to  the  Constitution  if 
it  should  be  drawn  into  precedent,  and  has  been  so  maliciously 
employed  at  this  time  that  I  thought  it  necessary  for  the 
Government  to  show  its  resentment  upon  it.  The  people  of 
the  town  are  continually  endeavouring  to  pervert  the  minds 
of  the  members  that  come  from  the  country,  who  it  is  to  be 
hoped  will  not  be  so  much  tampered  with  in  the  country  and 
particularly  at  Salem  where  the  people  are  generally  well 
inclined,  as  the  members  for  that  place  are."  (pp.  225-6). 

He  strongly  recommended  that  the  undutiful  behaviour  of 
the  Massachusetts  Assembly  and  especially  their  attack  upon 
his  Instructions  from  the  King  should  be  referred  to  Parliament 
that  they  might  assure  H.M.  that  the  Instructions  were  in  no 
way  contrary  to  the  Charter  granted  by  King  William,  and 
thus,  while  there  would  be  no  final  decision  against  the  charter, 


xxx  COLONIAL    PAPERS. 


the  Assembly  might  be  made  apprehensive  of  losing  it  and 
brought  to  a  true  sense  of  their  duty.     (pp.  227,  430). 

When  the  Assembly  met  at  Salem,  they  proved  as  recalcitrant 
as  ever.  They  disputed  the  Governor's  power  to  adjourn  them 
for  two  months  and  refused  to  do  any  business  until  the  clamours 
of  the  people  forced  them  to  proceed  with  the  ordinary  affairs 
of  the  Province.  They  drew  up  a  memorial  of  which  they 
refused  to  let  the  Governor  have  a  copy,  but  instead  forwarded 
it  direct  to  their  agent  in  London  for  presentation  to  the  King. 
(571).  However,  the  Governor  was  aware  of  its  terms  and  sent 
his  comments  upon  the  complaints  it  contained  and  the 
erroneous  constitutional  doctrines  it  set  forth  before  the 
document  was  received  in  London  (571  i,  576).  We  can  there- 
fore compare  the  rival  contentions,  for  the  Address  is  set  out 
in  full  when  it  was  referred  by  the  Privy  Council  Committee 
in  February  1729  to  the  Commissioners  of  Trade  for  their 
opinion  (582).  The  Board  decided  to  hear  both  counsel  for  the 
Assembly  and  for  the  Governor  before  they  made  their  report 
(592,  February  11,  Journal,  p.  14).  The  counsel  attended 
accordingly  (March  22),  and  their  arguments  are  set  forth  at 
length  in  the  pages  of  the  Journal  (pp.  16-18)  and  form  a 
necessary  complement  to  the  documents  here  collected.  The 
Board's  report  was  completed  by  the  27th  and  forwarded  at 
once  to  the  Duke  of  Newcastle  (643)  and  to  the  Committee  of 
the  Privy  Council  (644,  Journal,  p.  20),  so  that  no  time  was 
lost,  but  it  was  not  until  a  month  later  that  the  Committee  of 
the  Privy  Council  considered  the  matter,  set  forth  their  opinions 
at  length  and  recommended  the  acceptance  of  the  Governor's 
and  the  Board's  proposal  that  the  whole  matter  should  be  laid 
before  the  Parliament  of  Great  Britain  (Acts  of  Privy  Council, 
Colonial  Series,  1720-45,  pp.  108-11  and  no.  728).  It  is 
interesting  to  note  how  far  matters  had  moved  between  the 
seventeenth  century,  when  the  House  of  Commons  was  held 
to  have  no  competence  to  debate  colonial  affairs,  which  were 
the  concern  of  the  Crown,  and  1729  when  Governor  Burnet, 
Commissioners  and  Privy  Council  alike  take  it  for  granted  that 
Parliament  is  the  supreme  authority  and  alone  can  compel 
the  obedience  of  the  colonial  legislature,  We  can  in  these 


INTRODUCTION.  xxxi 


papers  discern  that  differentiation  of  logical  but  divergent 
constitutional  ideas  on  either  side  of  the  Atlantic  which  was  to 
play  such  an  important  part  in  the  disputes  of  forty  years  later. 

While  the  matter  was  being  discussed  in  England,  the  situation 
in  Massachusetts  got  more  and  more  menacing.  The  removal 
of  the  Assembly  to  Salem  had  roused  the  Bostonians  to  fury, 
and  the  Governor  had  to  write  that  they  were  endeavouring  to 
wrest  the  sword  out  of  the  Royal  hand.  They  were  trying  to 
strip  the  Governor  of  all  military  authority,  to  stop  the  pay 
of  the  forces  and  to  carry  further  the  process  already  far 
advanced  by  which  the  soldiers  and  officers  were  much  more  at 
the  command  of  the  Assembly  than  of  their  proper  commander- 
in-chief.  The  only  way  of  combating  this  was  to  post  two 
Independent  Companies  of  troops  in  the  immediate  pay  of  the 
Crown  in  garrison  in  the  Castle  at  Boston  and  in  the  small  forts 
on  the  frontiers,  in  the  same  way  as  in  New  York.  (647). 
Nothing  else  could  give  the  Government  some  weight  and  make 
the  King  respected  by  the  people  "  who  at  present  value  them- 
selves upon  the  feebleness  of  the  Administration."  (648). 

The  Ministry  had  made  up  their  minds  to  lay  the  whole  matter 
before  Parliament,  as  Newcastle  informed  Burnet  (June  1729, 
792,  793),  when  the  prorogation  prevented  action.  In  conse- 
quence the  Secretary  of  State  suggested  in  a  private  letter  that 
the  Governor  should  endeavour  to  come  to  a  compromise  with 
the  Assembly  by  hints  as  to  what  the  Crown  was  likely  to  accept. 
"  Whatever  you  do  of  that  kind,"  the  Governor  was  told, 
"  is  to  come  as  from  yourself  in  your  private  capacity  and  to 
let  it  look  like  any  new  overture  to  them  on  the  part  of  the 
Crown,  as  if  it  were  not  really  intended  to  lay  the  matter  before 
the  Parliament."  (793).  These  secret  orders  were  sent  in 
June,  but  before  Burnet  could  take  any  steps  to  comply  with 
them,  death  suddenly  seized  him. 

The  Assembly  was  sitting  at  Cambridge  near  Boston  and 

Governor     votmg  adversely  upon  the  Crown's  demands  when  the  news 

Bumet,       reached  them  that  the  Governor  had  expired  in  delirium  after 

only  a  week's  illness  (904).     The  exact  date  of  his  death  (5 

September  1729)  was  given  in  a  letter  from   his   Lieutenant- 

Governor  (Wentworth)  in  New  Hampshire  (898). 


XXX11 


COLONIAL    PAPERS. 


William  Dummer,  the  Lieutenant-Governor,  succeeded  to  the 
administration,  but  he  frankly  informed  Newcastle  that  he 
could  do  nothing  to  bring  the  Assembly  to  compliance  (904, 
905).  In  fact,  while  this  information  was  on  its  way,  another 
address  from  the  Assembly  to  the  Crown  was  also  crossing  the 
Atlantic  to  the  hands  of  Francis  Wilks  and  Jonathan  Belcher, 
the  Agents  for  the  Colony  in  London.  It  set  forth  at  full  length 
their  complaints  against  the  Governor  and  notably  his  action 
in  transferring  the  Assembly  to  Salem  (921  i.,  pp.  489-94), 
and  its  interest  lies  in  the  fact  that  it  practically  left  the  last 
word  in  the  dispute  with  the  New  Englanders.  Other  letters 
passed  during  the  autumn  (e.g.  925,  927,  949,  969  ii,  985,  998), 
but  when  a  new  Governor  came  to  be  appointed,  instead  of  an 
able  and  determined  servant  of  the  Crown  such  as  Burnet  had 
been,  a  Massachusetts  man  was  chosen.  It  seems  as  though 
the  ministers  were  sick  of  the  contest  and  wishful  to  try 
conciliation,  as  Newcastle  showed  in  his  private  letter  in  June 
(793).  Jonathan  Belcher  received  the  appointment  and 
questions  as  to  his  instructions  occupied  the  rest  of  the 
year.  The  first  round  had  ended  with  a  victory  on  points  to. 
Massachusetts. 


Governor 

Burnet 

in  New 

Hampshire. 


Boundary 
disputes 
between 
Massachu- 
setts 
and  New 
Hampshire. 


Burnet  at  the  same  time  that  he  was  Governor  of 
Massachusetts  also  held  the  office  of  Governor  of  New 
Hampshire.  There  he  was  more  successful  with  the  Assembly 
than  he  was  in  the  larger  colony.  The  salary  question  was 
settled  in  accordance  with  his  Instructions,  but  only  for  the 
time  of  Burnet' s  own  tenure  of  the  office,  so  that  his  death 
re-opened  the  difficulty  once  more.  (747,  748,  898). 

The  readiness  of  the  Massachusetts  men  to  resort  to  violence 
to  reach  their  ends  was  not  only  to  be  noted  in  the  actions  of 
the  Boston  mob  ;  the  frontiersmen  were  at  least  as  violent,  as 
was  illustrated  in  connection  with  the  long-disputed  boundary 
with  New  Hampshire.  A  place  called  Londonderry  had  been 
settled  by  Irish  Presbyterians  for  several  years  some  8  or  9 
miles  north  of  the  Merrimac  River  in  a  district  that  had  always 
been  regarded  as  an  undoubted  part  of  New  Hampshire.  The 
Irishmen  were  mowing  their  meadows  when  seventy  or  eighty 


INTRODUCTION.  xxxiii 


men  from  Haverhill  armed  with  muskets  drove  them  away 
after  a  fight  in  which  several  men  on  both  sides  were  wounded. 
(253,  392).  On  other  occasions  they  broke  into  houses  in 
Londonderry  by  night  and  carried  off  certain  men  before 
Massachusetts  justices,  who  committed  them  to  prison  as 
trespassers.  This  was  done,  although  there  was  an  agreement 
between  the  two  Governments  that  all  hostile  action  on  either 
side  should  be  suspended  until  the  boundary  was  properly 
settled  (898).  New  Hampshire,  in  fact,  found,  as  Colonel  Dunbar 
did  in  his  schemes  along  the  Kennebec,  that  while  it  was 
particularly  difficult  to  get  the  authorities  in  Boston  to  make 
any  agreement  which  did  not  secure  to  them  all  they  wanted, 
it  was  even  more  difficult  for  those  authorities  to  secure 
compliance  with  the  agreement  by  individual  citizens. 

Governor  Montgomerie  in  the  same  way  found  the  Quakers 
New  Jersey,  of  New  Jersey  difficult  to  handle.  They  had  been  relieved  of 
their  political  disabilities  and  in  April  1729  formed  more  than 
half  the  House  of  Assembly.  They  were  so  elated  that  the 
Governor  found  them  quite  ungovernable,  having  their  heads 
filled  with  wild,  unpracticable  schemes  calculated  to  weaken 
or  set  aside  H.M.  prerogative  and  to  bring  the  Government  to 
be  entirely  depending  upon  themselves.  All  accounts  from 
New  Jersey,  ever  since  the  government  was  surrendered  to  the 
Crown,  showed  that  the  Quakers  there  had  been  insolent  and 
troublesome  when  they  had  no  favour  to  ask,  but  quiet  and 
useful  to  the  Government,  when  they  had  anything  depending. 
(669). 

In  New  York  Montgomerie  had  succeeded  to  Burnet's 
difficulties,  and  these  have  been  referred  to  earlier  in  this 
Introduction. 

Circumstances  in  Virginia  under  Lieutenant-Governor  Gooch 
Virgima.  were  quieter  than  usual,  but  in  one  or  two  long  and  interesting 
despatches  (notably  641  and  796)  he  showed  that  the  colony 
had  many  dangers  to  dread.  On  the  frontier  were  the  Indians 
who  were  in  incessant  feuds,  one  tribe  with  another.  The 
Nottaways  and  the  Saponies,  two  tributary  tribes,  each  accused 

Wt.  1525  C.P.  XXXVI— C 


xxxiv  COLONIAL    PAPERS. 


the  other  of  murders  and  outrages,  and  when  the  case  was  tried 
before  the  Virginia  Council  and  no  legal  proof  could  be  found, 
they  vowed  to  take  matters  into  their  own  hands.  It  was  in 
vain  to  remonstrate  to  these  savages  the  justice  of  our  laws 
which  permit  no  man  to  be  punished  without  due  proof  of  his 
crime.  Their  notions  of  justice  were  not  to  be  adapted  to  that 
rule.  Revenge  was  what  both  sides  wanted  ;  and  because 
they  were  forbid  all  hostility,  and  were  told  that  this  matter 
should  still  be  pursued  and  enquired  into,  they  seemed  resolved 
to  take  satisfaction  their  own  way,  expressing  great  resentment 
against  the  English  for  not  concurring  with  them.  The  frontier 
inhabitants  of  the  colony  lay  exposed  to  the  barbarous  insults 
of  those  Indians  and  the  foreign  nations  they  call  in  to  their 
aid  (i.e.  probably  not  the  French,  but  other  tribes  or  nations 
of  Indians  beyond  British  territory).  Any  outbreak  whenever 
they  met  in  their  hunting  was  likely  to  be  full  of  danger,  and 
the  Governor  was  greatly  concerned,  (pp.  333,  415). 

He  was  disturbed  too  by  the  fear  of  a  slave  insurrection, 
and  gave  account  of  various  outbreaks  in  which  riotous  bands 
of  negro  slaves  had  done  much  damage.  The  secret  robberies 
and  other  villainous  attempts  of  a  pernicious  crew  of  white 
transported  felons,  which  had  led  to  the  burning  of  certain 
plantations,  added  to  the  prevailing  fears,  and  confidence  would 
only  be  restored  by  careful  attention  to  the  drilling  and  arming 
of  the  militia,  to  which  the  Governor  devoted  himself,  (p.  334). 
Virginia  was  the  best  organised  and  developed  of  the  southern 
colonies,  but  the  impression  of  its  slave-owning,  plantation 
society  derived  from  these  letters  is  that  of  a  community  filled 
with  anxieties  and  in  constant  dread.  The  inhabitants  were 
eager  to  take  up  lands  amongst  the  great  western  mountains 
despite  the  frontier  dangers,  and  there  were  difficulties  with 
Maryland  about  the  lands  in  the  Northern  Neck,  watered  by 
the  streams  which  fall  into  the  Rivers  Rappahanock  and 
Potomac.  The  division  of  Maryland  from  Virginia  was 
dependent  upon  a  grant  made  to  Lord  Culpepper  in  1688  in 
which  the  source  of  the  Potomac  was  fixed  as  the  furthest 
westward  limit,  leaving  all  the  lands  beyond  still  to  be  granted 
by  the  Crown.  But  as  in  so  many  later  boundary  disputes  in 


INTRODUCTION.  xxxv 


America  it  was  impossible  to  decide  what  was  the  source  of  the 
Potomac  or  whether  the  Shenandoah  formed  the  headwaters 
of  that  river  (pp.  416-7),  and  the  Governor  forwarded  maps  to 
illustrate  the  difficulty  of  deciding  what  to  fix  in  the  tumbled 
region  into  which  emigration  from  Virginia  was  now  extending. 
Clearly  the  westward  march  had  begun  in  earnest. 

Virginia  was  very  proud  that  it,  more  than  any  American 
plantation,  was  united  in  the  religion  of  the  Church  of  England 
(46  ii),  and  in  his  allowances  for  the  expenses  of  the  boundary 
commission  Lt.  Governor  Gooch  included  the  payment  for 
a  chaplain,  for  he  remarked  that  it  was  necessary  for  a  clergyman 
to  accompany  them  in  a  country  where  they  could  have  no 
opportunity  of  attending  public  worship.  His  report  proved 
how  well  he  answered  his  purpose,  for  he  christened  above  a 
hundred  children,  a  great  many  adult  persons,  and  preached 
to  congregations  who  had  never  had  public  worship  since  their 
first  settlement  in  those  parts.  Beyond  the  borders  in  Maryland 
there  was  not  a  single  minister  (p.  417). 

Gooch's  rather  infrequent  but  long  and  informative  despatches 
show  him  to  have  been  of  a  keen  and  inquiring  mind,  and  there 
are  occasionally  touches  which  are  a  relief  to  read  after  the 
interminable  accounts  of  faction  which  fill  most  of  the  colonial 
despatches.  In  June  1729  he  wrote  from  Williamsburgh  to 
inform  the  Board  of  Trade  of  many  wonderful  cures  performed 
by  a  negro  slave  in  the  most  inveterate  venereal  distempers. 
The  fellow  was  very  old  and  had  kept  his  remedy  for  many 
years  a  profound  secret,  but  by  promising  him  his  freedom, 
Gooch  discovered  that  it  was  a  decoction  of  root  and  barks. 
Samples  of  these  he  sent  over  to  a  physician  that  the  College 
of  Physicians  might  have  the  opportunity  of  making  an 
experiment  what  effect  it  would  have  in  England.  The 
cost  of  procuring  the  disclosure  amounted  to  about  60/., 
including  the  purchase  of  the  negro's  freedom,  but  the  Governor 
thought  it  well  worth  the  price,  since  they  had  learned  how 
without  the  help  of  mercury  to  cure  slaves  who  were  often  ruined 
by  the  unskilfulness  of  the  practitioners  Virginia  alone  afforded. 
He  recommended  it  as  an  encouragement  "  for  one  of  Dr. 
Radcliffe's  travelling  physicians  to  take  a  tour  into  this  part 


XXXVI 


COLONIAL    PAPERS. 


The 
Carolinas. 


of  the  world,  where  there  are  many  valuable  discoveries  to  be 
made,  not  met  with  in  France  or  Italy."  These  were  the 
investigators  sent  out  from  time  to  time  by  the  celebrated 
founder  of  the  Radcliffe  Observatory  in  Oxford  to  search  for 
new  plants  and  remedies,  and  Gooch's  reference  to  them  may 
illustrate  how  the  stirrings  of  the  new  spirit  of  modern  scientific 
enquiry  were  familiar  to  an  enlightened  colonial  governor, 
(p.  419). 

The  ministry  had  now  decided  to  terminate  the  anomalous 
state  of  affairs  in  the  Carolinas  where  although  the  Crown  had 
had  to  take  over  the  whole  responsibility  of  government,  the 
Lords  Proprietors  still  obstructively  tried  to  enforce  the 
remnants  of  their  rights.  It  was  resolved  to  buy  out  the 
remainder  of  the  rights  under  the  Charters,  a  course  that  was 
recommended  by  Thomas  Lowndes  who  had  acted  as  inter- 
mediary between  Lord  Westmoreland,  acting  on  behalf  of  the 
Crown,  and  the  Lords  Proprietors  (565).  He  proposed  that 
North  Carolina  should  be  made  a  district  of  Virginia  where  the 
quit-rents  and  the  tenths  reserved  upon  the  whale  fishery  would 
discharge  the  expenses  advanced  by  the  Crown.  It  was 
acknowledged  by  all  persons  that  "  the  most  fertile  and  healthy 
part  of  all  America  is  the  tract  of  land  between  Port  Royal  in 
South  Carolina  and  Florida,  and  well-watered  by  navigable 
rivers  "  it  would  be  an  admirable  site  for  a  new  settlement. 
(566).  In  immediately  succeeding  volumes  we  shall  note  how 
this  suggestion  was  carried  into  effect. 

The  delimitation  of  the  boundary  between  Virginia  and  North 
Carolina  had  been  entrusted  to  commissioners,  but  their 
proceedings  gave  rise  to  many  complaints  of  favouritism  and 
illegality.  Their  reports  give  exact  information  concerning  the 
extent  of  settlement  in  the  frontier  regions  and  though  they 
can  only  be  listed  here  owing  to  the  impossibility  of  summary, 
their  field  books  and  surveys  which  are  preserved  among  the 
documents  would  be  of  great  interest  to  local  historians.  (45, 
184,  261  iii,  515,  781,  p.  335,  641,  v,  vi,  vii). 

The  scandals  of  President  Arthur  Middleton's  acting- 
governorship  in  South  Carolina  continued  for  a  couple  of  years 


INTRODUCTION.  xxxvii 


(459,  498  i)  before  a  new  Governor  was  selected  to  succeed 
General  Francis  Nicholson,  who  all  that  time  had  been  on  leave 
in  England.  The  choice  was  fixed  upon  Colonel  Robert  Johnson, 
and  at  the  end  of  1729  under  Lord  Townshend's  direction  the 
Board  of  Trade  began  the  long  task  of  preparation  of  his 
commission  and  instructions.  (987).  Since  Johnson  was  to 
be  full  Governor  of  what  was  now  to  be  a  royal  colony,  the 
Board  necessarily  had  to  consider  in  detail  whether  any  modifi- 
cation of  his  instructions  was  necessary  from  those  given  to 
Lieutenant-Governor  Nicholson,  who  had  provisionally  taken 
over  the  administration  of  the  colony  for  a  period  to  clear  up 
the  chaos  to  which  the  rule  of  the  Lords  Proprietors  had  reduced 
it.  (Cal  St.  Pap.,  Col,  1720  August  11,  no.  185).  Johnson 
had  already  been  Governor  of  the  Colony  under  the  Proprietors, 
and  he  was  therefore  thoroughly  familiar  with  its  importance 
as  the  outlying  post  against  Spanish  Florida.  (See  Cal.  St. 
Pap.,  Col,  1719-20,  1720-1,  passim). 


III. 
THE    WEST    INDIES. 

As  was  stated  in  our  previous  volume,  on  the  death  of  the 
Jamaica.  Duke  of  Portland  he  was  succeeded  in  the  Governorship  of 
Jamaica  by  an  able  and  energetic  soldier,  Major-General  Robert 
Hunter,  who  had  had  long  experience  as  Governor  of  New  York 
and  New  Jersey,  where  he  had  won  a  high  reputation  for  tact 
and  decision.  In  Jamaica  his  letters  were  much  less  voluminous 
than  those  of  his  predecessor.  They  were  as  frequent  in  number, 
for  in  the  imminent  danger  from  the  Spaniards,  which  we  have 
mentioned  earlier,  the  ministry  had  to  be  kept  fully  informed 
of  what  was  happening.  The  letters,  however,  were  shorter 
and  perhaps  more  to  the  point,  for  Hunter  was  immersed  in 
the  military  task  of  putting  the  island  in  a  proper  state  of 
defence,  and  either  he  found  the  Assembly  quieter  (197,  591) 
or  he  had  more  tact  in  dealing  with  it  than  Portland  had 
displayed. 


XXXV111 


COLONIAL    PAPERS. 


The  long  and  acrimonious  disputes  over  the  Revenue  Bill 
were  brought  to  an  end  by  the  passage  of  an  Act  for  granting  a 
revenue  to  H.M.for  the  support  of  the  Government  and  for  reviving 
and  perpetuating  the  acts  and  laws,  which  was  in  exact  accordance 
with  the  draft  sent  from  England  to  the  Duke  of  Portland.  In 
certain  phrases  synonymous  words  were  substituted,  but  in 
material  substance  all  the  demands  of  the  Crown  were  accepted. 
Governor  Hunter  therefore  recommended  that  the  assent  to  it 
which  he  had  given  should  be  approved.  With  the  Assembly's 
return  to  reason  after  its  long  bout  of  passionate  faction  things 
were  quieter  in  the  island  than  they  had  been  for  many  years. 

A  serious  danger  to  the  safety  of  Jamaica  arose,  in  Hunter's 
opinion,  from  the  treachery  and  disloyalty  of  the  Irish.  The 
militia  which  formed  a  most  important  part  of  its  defence 
consisted  chiefly  of  hired  or  indentured  servants,  who  were  for 
the  most  part  native  Irish.  By  their  backwardness,  mutinies 
and  desertions  they  were  always  troublesome,  but  now  they 
openly  declared  that  they  had  no  quarrel  with  the  Spaniards 
and  would  not  fight  against  them.  The  Governor  had  undoubted 
proofs  of  a  treasonable  correspondence  between  the  Irish  faction 
and  the  Governor  of  the  Havana,  although  he  failed  to  discover 
the  ringleaders.  His  only  resort  was  to  declare  publicly  that  in 
case  of  an  attempt  of  the  Spaniards  to  land  in  Jamaica  he  would 
post  a  reserve  of  negroes  in  the  rear  of  the  Irish  militia  with  orders 
to  knock  down  any  man  who  should  desert  or  fly  from  the  ranks. 
A  poor  remedy,  as  the  Governor  remarked,  but  all  that  was  in  his 
power.  (895,  1055,  p.  580). 


The 
Bahamas. 


The  Spanish  threat  was,  as  we  have  remarked  earlier,  also 
very  serious  to  the  Bahamas.  George  Phenney's  long  tenure 
of  the  Governorship  had  at  last  been  terminated  and  Captain 
Woodes  Rogers  had  been  appointed  to  succeed  him.  In  his 
Instructions  he  was  directed  to  summon  General  Assemblies 
of  the  freeholders  and  planters  (701  i),  and  the  colony  was  thus 
placed  at  last  on  the  same  footing  as  the  other  islands  in  the 
West  Indies.  Woodes  Rogers  arrived  in  New  Providence  in 
August  1729  and  his  first  letters  thence  were  dated  in  November 
(964,  965),  but  they  had  been  preceded  by  an  interesting  report 


INTRODUCTION. 


XXXIX 


Bermuda. 


The 

Leeward 
Islands. 


on  the  conditions  in  the  colony  from  Richard  Fitzwilliam,  the 
Surveyor  General  of  the  Customs  for  the  southern  American 
colonies,  to  the  Commissioners  of  the  Customs.  He  showed  the 
smallness  and  poverty  of  the  community  there,  for  there  were 
only  about  500  white  people  and  250  negroes  with  only  20  small 
vessels  who  were  engaged  in  petty  trade  with  South  Carolina 
and  Jamaica  (920  i).  This  accounts  for  the  long  delay  in 
establishing  a  form  of  representative  government,  and  Woodes 
Rogers  was  anxious  to  receive  new  inhabitants  from  the 
Bermudas,  for  they  had  a  good  reputation  as  industrious  people 
and  would  enable  the  colony  to  become  self-supporting  by 
raising  supplies  of  provisions  (p.  519). 

In  Bermuda  the  period  was  uneventful  and  the  only  notable 
happening  was  the  arrival  in  September  1728  of  the  new 
Lieutenant-Governor,  John  Pitt.  He  remarked  upon  the 
accumulation  of  several  incompatible  offices  in  the  hands  of  a 
few  men  who  were  at  the  same  time  Councillors,  judges  of  the 
Common  Pleas  and  justices  of  the  Peace.  This  was  apparently 
due  to  the  scarcity  of  educated  men  in  that  rather  primitive 
community,  and  though  Pitt  tried  to  clear  up  the  impropriety 
of  men  acting  in  this  triple  capacity,  he  does  not  seem  to  have 
had  much  success.  (438,  497).  Currency  in  the  islands  was 
extremely  scarce,  and  Pitt  therefore  proposed  to  purchase  200Z. 
worth  of  English  half-pence  and  lodge  them  in  the  Treasury 
for  the  payment  of  public  debts  at  the  rate  of  three-farthings 
each.  (497  i).  His  calculations  as  to  the  gain  that  would 
accrue  illustrate  the  minute  scale  on  which  the  colony  with 
its  elaborate  constitutional  machinery  of  Council,  Assembly, 
judges  etc.  was  really  working.  There  is  almost  a  comic 
disparity  between  the  machine  and  the  petty  affairs  with  which 
it  had  to  deal.  (497  i). 

Colonel  Hart,  the  Governor-in-chief  of  the  Leeward  Islands 
had  returned  to  England  late  in  1727  and  the  Earl  of  London- 
derry was  appointed  to  the  post  (3,  11,  14,  15,  16),  but  he  did 
not  arrive  in  the  islands  until  August  1728  (397),  and  in  the 
interim  the  officer  administering  the  government  was  Colonel 
Matthew,  the  Lieutenant- General  who  had  already  acted  on 
previous  occasions.  The  relative  importance  of  the  various 


xl  COLONIAL    PAPERS. 


islands  of  the  group  and  the  changes  that  had  taken  place  were 
set  out  in  the  enquiries  that  Matthew  addressed  to  the  Board 
of  Trade  as  to  what  should  happen  if  he  were  incapacitated 
while  administering  the  government.  The  provision  in  case 
of  the  Captain  General  and  Lieutenant- General's  death  or 
absence  was  that  the  chief  government  should  devolve  to  the 
Lieutenant-Governor  of  Nevis  or  at  his  death  to  the  eldest 
Councillor  and  Council  of  that  island.  That  provision  was 
made  when  Nevis  was  the  first  seat  of  trade  in  the  islands,  for 
St.  Christopher  was  shared  with  the  French  and  lay  open  to 
their  attack.  At  that  time  Antigua  was  hardly  cleared  of 
woods  and  Montserrat  hardly  settled.  But  in  1728  Nevis  had 
quite  lost  its  trade  and  was  a  desert  island  compared  with  what 
it  had  been  thirty  years  before.  Antigua  was  the  chief  centre 
of  trade  in  the  Leeward  Islands  with  St.  Christopher  a  good 
second,  and  it  seemed  fitting  therefore  that  its  Lieutenant- 
Governor  should  take  precedence.  It  was  unfitting  that  a 
Councillor  who  held  quite  a  junior  place  in  the  General  Assembly 
might  be  placed  by  an  accident  in  charge  of  the  most  important 
post  in  all  the  islands  (p.  14). 

Captain  Paul  George,  the  Lieutenant-Governor  of  Montserrat, 
Montserrat.  wno  had  been  so  persistent  in  his  applications  for  preferment 
to  the  Duke  of  Newcastle,  was  losing  heart  and  when  he  learned 
that  his  last  petition,  for  the  governorship  of  Bermuda,  had 
failed  begged  that  he  might  be  permitted  to  dispose  of  his 
Governorship  and  Company  for  about  2200/.  and  retire  to 
South  Carolina,  for  he  saw  no  probability  in  the  station  he  was 
at  present  in  of  laying  up  anything  towards  discharging  such 
debts  as  were  the  occasion  of  his  leaving  England.  He  had 
served  twenty-five  years  in  the  army  and  had  received  no 
reward  (31),  but  even  his  last  appeal  was  unsuccessful.  Seven 
months  later,  in  September  1728,  Lord  Londonderry  wrote 
to  Newcastle  to  inform  him  of  George's  death  and  to  ask 
permission  to  dispose  of  his  Deputy  Governorship,  which  was 
worth  about  200/.  per  annum.  (397). 

The  government  of  the  smaller  islands  had  to  be  provided 
for  by  the  appointment  of  gentlemen  who  would  pay  their  own 
expenses,  for  they  could  make  no  contribution  towards  a  salary. 


INTRODUCTION.  xli 


There  were  a  good  many  British  subjects  in  the  islands  of 
Anguilla,  Spanish  Town  and  Tortola,  and  a  particular 
Lieutenant-Governor  to  each,  but  as  Matthew  said  "  If  his 
cudgel  happen  to  be  a  whit  less  than  a  sturdy  subject's,  '  Good 
night,  Governor'."  There  were  continual  contentions  in  those 
islands  about  their  meum  and  tuum  and  the  strongest  had  the 
best  title,  so  that  to  bring  some  sort  of  judicature  among  them 
Matthew  recommended  the  establishment  of  some  sort  of  a 
court  where  every  man  might  be  heard  to  tell  his  own  story, 
(p.  15).  The  people  ought  to  be  protected  against  the  tyranny 
of  a  pasha  such  as  some  of  those  who  had  ruled  over  them 
had  been. 

The  amount  on  the  most  populous  of  these  islands  hardly 
reached  200  families  and  juries  could  not  be  found  among  such 
small  numbers.  The  gentlemen  of  the  Bar  would  not  attend, 
as  they  could  not  be  paid,  for  a  retaining  fee  at  the  usual  rate 
would  empty  the  pockets  of  a  whole  island.  Among  petty 
affairs  such  as  the  islands  alone  afforded  a  persistent  and  greedy 
self-seeker  with  some  influence  in  England  could  become  a 
pluralist  on  a  most  extensive  scale.  Such  an  one  was  that 
Wavell  Smith,  Secretary  of  the  Leeward  Islands  whose  disputes 
with  Governor  Hart  have  been  mentioned  in  previous  Intro- 
ductions. In  those  disputes  he  had  received  what  he  held  to 
be  a  favourable  reply  to  his  claims  to  hold  a  large  number  of 
small  offices  under  his  patent,  and  he  demanded  that  Matthew 
should  extrude  all  other  persons  from  the  offices  and  let  them 
recover  them  from  him  by  process  of  law.  The  Lieutenant- 
General  clearly  dreaded  Smith's  contentiousness  and  strove 
to  keep  friends  with  him  (p.  16),  but  it  was  of  very  little  avail 
and  there  are  many  letters  in  the  volume  about  his  outrageous 
claims  (69,  91,  181,  318,  713,  etc). 

Lord  Londonderry's  tenure  of  the  Governorship  did  not  last 
lon£'  He  arrived  in  the  islands  in  August  1728  (397)  and 
London-  actively  took  up  his  functions,  but  he  died  in  September  1729 
and  Lieutenant-General  Matthew  was  again  in  charge  of  the 
administration.  He  had  held  the  second  post  in  the  islands 
for  the  long  period  of  fourteen  years  and  naturally  he  petitioned 
for  the  definitive  appointment  to  the  Governorship  he  had  so 


xlii  COLONIAL    PAPERS. 


frequently  administered,  (902,  903,  991).  But  he  could 
command  no  influence  at  Court,  and  so  his  plea  had  no  hope 
of  success  despite  the  services  he  had  rendered  to  the  Crown  as 
Commissioner  for  the  disposal  of  the  French  lands  in  St. 
Christopher  and  Engineer  of  Gibraltar  during  the  attacks  of  the 
Spaniards  (991).  Secretary  Townshend  secured  the  post  for  his 
own  nominee,  George,  Lord  Forbes,  and  in  November  1729 
the  Board  of  Trade  was  ordered  to  prepare  drafts  for  his 
commission  and  instructions.  (990). 

There   was   still  a  residuum   of  the   floating  and   unsettled 
Floating      population  in  the  West  Indies  which  had  been  such  a  notable 

population 

of  the  feature  of  the  latter  part  of  the  seventeenth  century.  Landless 
men  both  English,  French  and  Dutch,  who  had  been  extruded 
from  their  little  holdings  by  the  growth  of  larger  plantations 
worked  by  negro  slaves,  surged  backwards  and  forwards  among 
the  unoccupied  smaller  islands  in  search  of  a  living  or  provided 
recruits  for  the  gradually  dwindling  companies  of  the  buccaneers. 
It  was  the  tragic  ending  of  the  great  white  emigration  that  had 
poured  into  the  West  Indies  in  the  first  half  of  the  seventeenth 
century.  Our  documents  afford  no  direct  evidence  of  the 
feelings  or  desires  of  the  dwindling  remnants  of  the  stream 
that  a  century  before  had  been  at  flood,  for  the  descendants 
of  the  first  comers  were  quite  unvocal  and  had  no  influence  on 
the  richer  planters  who  had  held  their  own.  But  there  are 
many  indications  here  and  there  that  these  '  poor  whites  ' 
still  existed,  and  it  would  be  an  interesting  and  significant  task 
to  piece  these  together  to  make  a  complete  story  of  the  social 
tragedy  that  had  engulfed  one  of  the  greatest  streams  of 
emigration  that  ever  left  the  countries  of  Northern  Europe. 
By  tracing  from  our  indexes  the  events  in  the  smaller  islands 
of  the  Virgin  Islands  and  the  Leeward  group,  like  Santa  Cruz, 
Barbuda,  St.  Eustatius  and  Montserrat,  a  beginning  might  be 
made  with  the  English,  Dutch,  Swedes  and  Danes  among  this 
flotsam,  while  the  struggles  of  the  French  from  Martinique  and 
Guadeloupe  and  the  English  from  Barbados  to  occupy  Dominica, 
St.  Lucia  and  Tobago  and  other  of  the  Windward  group  would 
give  another  aspect  of  this  story  which  is  a  neglected  but 
essential  part  of  the  history  of  the  West  Indies,  (see  e.g.  664, 


INTRODUCTION. 


xliii 


Barbados. 


Connection 

with 
Guiana. 


790,  821,  684,  34,  41,  526,  184,  664,  802,  1032,  1053  for  certain 
islands.) 

Governor  Worsley  despite  the  complaints  of  the  Barbados 
Assembly  against  him  (6,  518)  was  re-appointed  to  his  Governor- 
ship (154)  and  the  unending  wrangles  in  the  island  went  on, 
but  without  affording  many  points  of  constitutional  interest 
(see  e.g.  20,  p.  7,  p.  9,  207,  297  ii,  362,  389).  There  are  some 
indications  that  the  interest  of  planters  from  Barbados  in  new 
plantations  in  Guiana,  which  became  of  considerable  importance 
later  in  the  century,  had  already  begun.  Jeronimy  Clifford 
who  had  held  important  plantations  in  Surinam,  of  which  he 
had  been  dispossessed  by  the  Dutch  Proprietors  of  that  colony, 
was  still  petitioning  in  support  of  the  claims  for  compensation 
that  he  had  brought  forward  more  than  twenty  years  before. 
(See  Cal.  St.  Pap.  Col.,  1704-5,  Preface  p.  xxix  and  various 
documents).  Sir  Robert  Walpole  advised  him  to  drop  his 
claims  against  the  Dutch,  but  it  does  not  appear  on  what 
grounds.  Whatever  British  contacts  there  were  with  Guiana 
came  through  Barbados,  but  another  side  line  of  British  activity 
on  the  coast  of  the  mainland  started  from  Jamaica  and  it  was 
through  the  Governor  of  that  colony  that  the  Government  were 
informed  of  what  was  going  on. 

As  buccaneering  and  piracy  were  gradually  put  down  in  the 
The  logwood    Caribbean  by  the  pressure  of  the  ships  of  the  British  and  French 

cutters  of 

Campeachy.  navies,  the  buccaneers  found  an  outlet  for  their  energies  and  the 
readiest  means  of  making  an  honest  living  by  cutting  logwood 
on  the  unoccupied  coasts  of  Campeachy.  There,  despite  the 
protests  of  the  Spaniards  and  repeated  efforts  to  drive  them 
out,  they  had  formed  a  settlement  at  the  Laguna  de  Terminos 
(191),  and  this  provided  a  knotty  problem  for  the  Commissioners 
of  Customs  and  the  Board  of  Trade  who  were  jointly  charged 
with  the  supervision  of  the  Acts  of  Navigation.  The  logwood 
cut  in  Campeachy  was  often  carried  directly  to  Holland  and 
other  foreign  parts  from  New  York  and  other  British  plantations. 
But  it  was  required  by  law  that  all  fustick  or  other  dyeing(1)  wood 
of  the  growth,  production  or  manufacture  "  of  any  British 

(1)  Printed  in  the  text  (39)  as  "drying." 


xliv  COLONIAL    PAPERS. 


Plantation  in  America  "  should  be  brought  directly  to  Great 
Britain  and  landed  there.  Was  Campeachy  to  be  esteemed  a 
Plantation  belonging  to  the  Crown  of  Great  Britain  or  no  ?  (39). 
The  Board  of  Trade  could  not  say,  and  could  only  refer  (40)  the 
Customs  Commissioners  to  the  report  on  the  subject  of  the 
settlements  of  the  logwood  cutters  prepared  in  1717  (Col.  St. 
Pap.,  Col.  1717-18,  no.  104,  pp.  38-45).  There  the  whole 
history  of  the  question  was  summarised,  but  no  clear  answer 
to  the  Customers'  question  was  afforded.  The  House  of 
Commons,  too,  was  making  requests  for  information  on  the 
subject  (617),  but  again  the  Board  could  do  nothing  more  than 
forward  the  report  of  1717.  (Journal,  1728-34,  p.  13). 

The  logwood  cutters  not  only  gathered  in  the  remotest  parts 
The          of  the  Bay  of  Campeachy  ;    they  also  carried  on  their  trade  in 

Moskito 

Coast.  the  forests  and  swamps  along  the  rivers  in  the  east  of  the 
Peninsula  of  Yucatan,  where  the  settlements  of  Belize  now  lie. 
Further  south  too  they  were  to  be  found  around  Cape  Gracias 
a  Dios  and  the  neighbouring  coasts  and  there  they  were  in 
intimate  touch  with  the  Moskito  Indians,  who  were  bitter 
enemies  of  the  Spaniards.  "  His  Musketish  Majesty  "  wrote 
to  Governor  Hunter  of  Jamaica  in  October  1729  to  congratulate 
him  on  his  appointment  and  to  offer  to  continue  the  good 
understanding  that  had  always  subsisted  between  the  subjects 
of  H.M.  of  Great  Britain  and  the  inhabitants  of  the  Moskito 
kingdom.  The  coast  had  been  disturbed  by  a  rebellion  arising 
after  the  death  of  the  King  of  the  Moskitos  and  the  Governor 
and  the  possessions  of  the  white  people  had  been  attacked. 
King  Peter  therefore  asked  for  Commissions  under  the  Great 
Seal  of  the  Island  of  Jamaica  for  one  John  Bellamy,  whom  he 
thought  a  proper  person  to  assist  him  in  the  office  of  Governor 
of  the  Southern  parts  of  his  Dominions,  and  for  Charles  Holby 
to  be  General  of  his  forces  and  overseer  of  the  Northern  parts 
(952  i).  Governor  Hunter  forwarded  the  letter  to  the  Secretary 
of  the  Board  of  Trade,  and  stated  that  he  had  sent  the  com- 
missions in  the  usual  form  to  keep  "  his  Musketish  Majesty  " 
in  good  humour,  but  as  these  matters  in  the  Bay  of  Honduras 
clearly  involved  our  relations  with  Spain,  he  could  not  do  more 
than  give  some  private  hints  to  Mr.  Delafaye  as  to  the  state  of 
affairs  in  that  region.  (952). 


INTRODUCTION. 


xlv 


Newfound- 
land 
and  the 
fisheries. 


The  affairs  of  Newfoundland  and  Placentia  demanded  a  good 
deal  of  attention,  and  the  usual  heads  of  enquiry  were  sent  out 
to  the  naval  commanders  in  the  fisheries  and  their  detailed 
answers  were  received  (686-7,  697,  939,  940,  etc.).  Lord  Vere 
Beauclerk  and  Captain  Osborn  were  in  charge  of  the  ships  off 
the  Newfoundland  coast  and  Captain  Weller  at  the  Canso 
fishery.  Their  replies  were  of  more  interest  than  usual  because 
the  commodores  were  engaged  in  the  task  of  setting  up  justices 
of  the  peace  and  other  authorities  to  exercise  control  during 
the  winter  when  there  were  no  naval  commanders  in  charge. 
It  is  impracticable  here  to  do  more  than  draw  attention  to  the 
letters  where  the  whole  business  is  set  forth  at  length,  but  it  is 
of  considerable  importance  in  the  history  of  Newfoundland, 
because  it  marks  the  turning  point  at  which  the  existence  of  a 
permanent  British  community  in  the  island  was  officially 
recognised  by  the  Privy  Council  (666). 

Enquiries  were  made  of  the  Mayors  of  Bristol,  Dartmouth, 
Barnstaple,  Bideford,  Poole,  Exeter,  Plymouth,  Weymouth  and 
Liverpool  as  to  the  measures  the  fishing  merchants  of  those 
ports  thought  necessary  for  the  further  encouragement  of  the 
fisheries  (461)  and  reference  to  the  pages  of  the  Journal  will 
show  what  a  large  share  of  the  attention  of  the  Board  of  Trade 
was  directed  to  the  matter.  Barnstaple  (487)  and  Poole  (595) 
replied  without  delay,  and  the  Board  entered  into  discussion 
with  them  on  the  points  they  raised  (e.g.  721).  The 
misbehaviour  of  Lieutenant-Governor  Gledhill  at  Placentia 
was  one  of  the  most  serious  causes  of  complaint,  and  he  was 
at  last  formally  removed  from  his  place  and  called  home  to 
answer  for  his  conduct  (725).  The  whole  question  of  Placentia 
and  its  government  under  Nova  Scotia  was  closely  bound  up 
with  the  affairs  of  that  colony,  and  the  whole  of  the  fishery  both 
in  Newfoundland  and  Nova  Scotian  waters  should  be  considered 
as  a  single  problem  to  gain  a  clear  view  of  the  policy  that  was 
being  pursued  in  this  matter,  which  was  regarded  as  of  such 
great  importance  for  the  trade  of  the  Kingdom. 


COLONIAL   PAPERS. 


1728. 


|?  Jan.]  1.  Considerations  upon  the  importation  of  negroes  into 
Jamaica,  in  reply  to  the  Planters  residing  in  Great  Britain, 
who  are  endeavouring  that  Governor  Hunter  may  not  be 
instructed  not  to  pass  any  Act  imposing  duties  on  negroes 
imported  or  exported.  Abstract : — Such  duties  would  lessen 
the  importation  of  negroes  into  Jamaica,  and  therefore  lessen 
the  produce  of  the  island.  The  necessity  of  the  island  does 
not  require  such  a  duty,  for  the  very  same  persons  have  assured 
Governor  Hunter  and  others  that  the  estimate  of  the  revenue 
annexed  to  the  bills  transmitted  from  Jamaica  will  answer 
the  whole  expense  of  the  Government,  exclusive  of  the  additional 
pay  to  the  two  Independent  Companies  etc.  A  tax  on 
negroes  in  the  island  would  be  more  equitable  and  advantageous, 
if  more  money  is  needed  etc.  Without  signature  or  endorsement. 
3|  pp.  [C.O.  137,  53.  ff.  22-23i;.] 

[Jan.  ?]  2.  Duke  of  Montagu  to  [?the  Duke  of  Newcastle.]  As  I 
know  I  may  allwaise  depend  on  your  friendship  I  beg  you  will 
shew  it  me  in  the  afaire  which  the  enclosed  copy  of  a  petition 
I  intend  to  present  to  the  King  (v.  C.S.P.  1728.  Jan.  23)  will 
informe  you  of,  and  which  I  beg  you  will  read  with  atention, 
and  for  that  reason  I  have  taken  the  liberty  to  send  it  you  into 
the  countery  thinking  you  woud  have  more  leasure  from  busines 
there  then  in  town  ;  I  shall  refer  the  whole  matter  to  the  petition 
except  one  thing  wch  I  must  explaine  to  you  ;  When  the  news 
caime  that  the  French  had  obliged  my  Collony  to  abandon 
St.  Lucia,  and  that  I  was  solisiting  about  that  afaire,  Ld. 
Townshend  proposed  to  me  to  speake  to  Mr.  Poins,  about  a 
pretention  sume  relations  of  his,  the  two  Mr.  Manlys  of  the 
Custome  House,  one  Mr.  Code,  Mr.  Knight,  and  sume  others  have 
to  the  Island  of  Tabago,  and  that  if  I  coud  agree  matters  with 
them  I  migte  have  that  island  to  settle,  but  I  was  then  still 
in  hopes  of  getting  Sta.  Lucia  againe,  and  declined  doeing 
any  thing  in  relation  to  Tabago.  Sence  that  you  know  the 
transactions  between  Mr.  D'Estree  and  me  about  St.  Lucia, 
which  the  King  and  all  of  ye  aprovd  of  and  were  so  kind  to 
give  Mr.  Walpole  instructions  about ;  But  now  I  am  convinced 
Mr.  d'Estree  tryfles  with  me,  so  that  I  have  quite  given  over 

C.P.  xxxvi— i 


COLONIAL   PAPERS. 

1728. 

the  thoughts  of  that  afaire  ;  but  as  I  have  still  a  great  many 
cannon  and  other  stores  in  the  West  Indies  which  I  can  never 
dispose  of  but  by  a  new  setlement,  I  have  agreed  with  Mr. 
Manly,  Code,  Knight  etc.  the  parties  concernd  in  the  pre- 
tensions on  Tobago,  and  if  I  can  get  a  grant  of  the  island  they 
and  I  together  will  undertake  to  settle  it ;  now  what  I  desire 
I  think  cannot  be  refus'd  me,  I  onely  desire  to  have  one  island 
given  me  to  settle  insted  of  two  islands  which  are  myne,  and 
which  the  King  and  all  of  you  are  willing  I  shoud  settle,  if  it 
coud  be  braught  about,  etc.  Continues : — May  be  it  may  be 
objected  etc.,  that  Mr.  Worsley  has  instructions  to  settle  it,  to 
which  I  answer,  that  he  had  those  instructions  att  the  tyme 
Ld.  Townshend  offerd  me  the  island  ;  and  as  to  the  settling 
the  island,  the  giving  him  those  instructions  shews  the  Govern- 
ment thaught  it  proper  the  island  shoud  be  settled,  but  as  yet 
he  has  done  nothing  towards  it,  and  I  can  demonstrate  he  never 
can  ;  may  be  I  may  be  allso  told,  I  am  in  the  wrong  as  to  my 
selfe,  to  have  a  minde  againe  to  undertake  such  an  afaire,  but 
that  is  my  busines,  and  if  I  am  in  the  wrong  so  much  the  worse 
for  me  ;  In  short  this  is  the  onely  thing  I  have  asked  sence 
the  King  came  to  the  Throne,  and  I  think  it  a  sort  of  a  thing, 
that  I  must  think  my  selfe  very  hardly  used  if  it  is  refus'd  me, 
but  I  entierly  relye  upon  you  to  be  my  frend  in  it,  and  I  know 
you  will  do  your  best  for  me.  And  this  favour  I  beg  that  I 
may  not  be  kept  in  insertaintis  about  it,  but  that  if  I  must  not 
have  it  I  may  be  told  so  at  once.  But  if  I  am  to  have  it, 
I  beg,  as  the  Board  of  Trade  have  allredy  represented  to  the 
King,  that  the  settling  Tobago  woud  be  very  benefistial,  that 
I  may  not  be  refer'd  to  them,  which  woud  be  quite  onnesesary 
and  woud  take  up  a  great  of  tyme,  and  give  me  a  great  deale 
of  onnesesary  trouble,  but  that  the  afaire  may  be  referd  directly 
to  the  Atourney  Generall,  he  passed  my  Sta.  Lucia  patent,  and 
he  may  copy  it  over  againe  word  for  word  for  this,  for  it  needs 
onely  putting  in  the  name  of  one  Island  insted  of  an  other. 
I  beg  you  will  consider  the  petition  well,  I  will  mentaine  every 
article  in  it  to  be  true.  I  intend  to  send  Ld.  Townshend  and 
Sir  Robert  copys  of  the  petition  to-morrow.  I  depend  upon 
you  to  be  my  frend  and  advocate,  and  I  intend  to  waite  on 
you  Wednesday  morning  to  know  my  fate,  for  I  hope  by  that 
tyme  you  will  have  settled  it  with  your  brother  Ministers,  and 
not  only  till  then  but  for  ever,  I  am  and  shall  be  your  obedient 
servant,  Signed,  Montagu.  Without  date  or  endorsement. 
Holograph.  5  *pp.  Enclosed,  (conjecturally), 

2.  i.  Petition  of  the  Duke  of  Montagu  to  the  King.  Copy 
of  C.S.P.  Jan.  23,  1728.  q.v.,  with  quotations  from 
Instructions  of  Governors  of  Barbados,  1721  and  1722. 
5  pp. 

2.  ii.  Memorandum  relating  to  the  following. 


AMERICA   AND   WEST  INDIES. 


1728. 


Jan.  1. 

Whitehall. 


Jan.  4. 

New  York 
in  America. 


2.  iii.  Extract  of  Representation  of  Board  of  Trade,  15th 
Feb.,  1721,  as  to  inserting  the  island  of  Tobago  in 
the  Commission  of  the  Governor  of  Barbados,  v. 
C.S.P.  1721. 

2.  iv.  Extract  of  Representation  of  Board  of  Trade  2nd  June, 
1709,  relating  to  British  title  to  Tobago,  v.  C.S.P. 
under  that  date. 

2.  v.  Memorandum  relating  to  Tobago.     Tobago,  not  being 

setled,  is  upon  the  same  foot  as  all  other  islands 
belonging  to  the  Crown  in  America,  which  the 
Governors  have  a  power  to  grant  out,  derived  from 
their  Instructions,  not  from  the  Treasury.  The 
Governor  of  Barbados  could  therefore  grant  Tobago 
to  the  Duke  of  Montagu  without  such  a  grant  passing 
the  Treasury  etc.  No  date  or  endorsement.  If  pp. 
[C.O.  285,  2.  Nos.  4,  4,  i-v.] 

3.  Duke  of  Newcastle  to  the  Council  of  Trade  and  Planta- 
tions.    H.M.  having  been  pleased  to  appoint  the  Rt.  Honble. 
the  Earl  of  Londonderry  to  be  Governor  of  the  Leeward  Islands 
in  America,  in  the  room  of  John  Hart,  Esq.,  you  are  to  prepare 
draughts    of    his    Commission    and    Instructions    etc.     Signed, 
Holies  Newcastle.    Endorsed,  Reed.    Read  2nd  Jan.,  172|.    f  p. 
[C.O.  152,  16.    ff.  54,  55v.] 

4.  Mr.  Bradley  to  the  Duke  of  Newcastle.     An  Act  passed 
here  in  Nov.  last  for  preventing  prosecutions  by  in  formations  other 
than  such  as  the  Governor  shall  order  in  Council ;   which  being 
a  manifest  infringemt.  on  H.M.  prerogative,  was  very  much 
against  the  inclination  of  the  Govr.  and  Council ;    who,  not- 
withstanding, were  oblig'd  at  last,  to  consent  to  it,  or  loose  the 
money  bill  relateing  to  Oswego,  wch.  passed  at  the  same  time  ; 
for  some  members  of  the  Assembly,  and  several  of  their  friends, 
being  affected  by  prosecutions  of  this  kind,  wch.  were  order'd 
by  the  Supream  Court,  for  crimes  of  no  trivial  or  inferiour 
nature  ;   the  leading  men  in  the  Assembly  were  determined  not 
to  consent  to  that  money  bill,  unless  this  Act  passed  ;    having, 
as  it  is  generally  believed,  form'd  a  designe,  not  only  to  screen 
themselves  and  friends  by  this  law,  from  these  and  all  other 
prosecutions  of  this  sort,  tho'  never  so  just  or  necessary  (wch. 
seem  to  be  almost  the  only  means  H.M.   has  to  check  that 
levelling  spirit  that  too  plainly  appears  among  the  generallity 
of  the  people  of  these  countrys)  but  also  to  break  in  upon,  and 
weaken   H.M.    Prerogative   and   interest   here,   by  attempting 
to  take  away  that  remedy,  wch.  the  Common  Law  gives  H.M. 
of  prosecuting  by  information,   without  the  leave  of  any  of 
H.M.  subjects  etc.,  and  to  make  all  the  officers  of  the  Crown 
entirely  dependant  on  the  Assembly  ;  who,  by  having  the  sole 
power  of  granting  money,  are  able  thus  to  influence  even  the 


COLONIAL   PAPERS. 

1728. 

Govr.  and  Council  to  consent  to  such  bills,  which  they  would 
otherwise  reject.  Prays  his  Grace  to  recommend  the  Lds.  of 
Trade  the  speedy  consideration  of  enclosed  memorial  against 
this  Act ;  the  Assembly  having  limited  it  to  three  years  only, 
with  such  politick  view  as  in  the  memorial  is  mentioned. 
Signed,  Richd.  Bradley.  2  pp.  Enclosed, 

4.  i.  Memorial  by  Same  to  the  Council  of  Trade  and  Planta- 
tions against  the  above-mentioned  Act  of  New  York. 
Repeats  parts  of  preceding  and  following.  The 
Assembly  rejected  the  amendments  by  which  the 
Council  thought  they  would  prevent  the  ill  tendency 
of  the  bill  exposed  by  the  Memorial,  v.  No.  ii.  In 
many  cases  prosecutions  may  be  necessary  where 
they  may  be  very  inconvenient  for  the  Governor  and 
Council  to  order,  as  where  they  may  affect  leading  men 
of  the  Assembly  or  their  friends  etc.  Prosecutions 
by  informations  seem  to  be  the  only  means  H.M.  has 
to  ascertaine  his  just  rights  to  fines  for  misdemeanours, 
where  a  jury  will  not  present,  wch.  has  often  been  the 
case  in  this  country,  tho'  the  evidence  has  been  as 
full  and  strong  as  could  be  wish'd  for  etc.  The 
limiting  of  this  Act  to  three  years,  seems  also  to  be 
done  with  a  designe,  to  get  it  the  more  readily  con- 
firmed, or  at  least  that  it  may  escape  being  repealed 
at  home,  it  having  been  a  common  practice,  as  I  am 
inform'd,  for  the  Assembly's  here,  when  they  had  a 
mind  to  obtaine  laws  agt.  the  inclination  of  this 
Government,  to  limit  them  to  some  short  time,  dureing 
which  they  stand  in  force  if  they  are  not  repeal' d,  and 
so  answer  their  designe  as  well  as  if  they  had  been 
confirm'd  ;  and  upon  their  expiration  to  use  them 
as  precedents  for  laws  of  the  same  nature,  of  a  longer 
duration.  Gives  instances  to  show  that  the  prosecu- 
tions by  informations  have  not  been  on  trivial  matters. 
Two  have  been  for  intrusions  on  H.M.  lands  ;  another 
was  brought  by  order  of  the  Supreme  Court  against 
the  Justices  of  Albany  for  the  insufficiency  of  their 
gaol,  and  the  like  against  the  Corporation  of  the  City 
of  New  York  etc.,  and  two  others  against  an  Assembly 
man  and  several  Justices  for  administering  to  several 
assessors  of  the  publick  rates  an  oath  of  the  said 
Justices'  own  devising,  very  different  from  the  form 
they  were  by  law  required  to  administer  ;  with  an 
intent,  as  many  of  the  freeholders  there  complain 
to  ease  the  sd.  Justices  and  their  friends,  and  lay  the 
burthen  on  others.  Another  was  brought  by  order 
of  the  Government  for  a  notorious  riot,  if  not  rebellion, 
found  by  an  inquisition  taken  thereof  etc.  These 
were  the  prosecutions  the  Assembly  were  offended  at, 


AMERICA   AND   WEST   INDIES.  5 

1728. 

because  they  affected  some  of  them,  and  their  friends, 
and  others  being  still  liable  for  prosecutions  for  offences 
far  from  trivial  etc.  Concludes  :  As  I  cannot  get  any 
salary  allow'd  me,  nor  my  fees,  or  any  recompense 
for  my  time  and  labour,  so  necessarily  employed  in 
these,  and  many  other  prosecutions  of  the  Government 
and  Courts  ordering,  against  forgers  of  the  bills  of 
credit  and  many  other  felons,  for  all  wch.  above  £800 
is  due  to  me  of  wch.  I  cannot  get  one  penny  etc.,  asks 
to  be  allowed  £150  pr.  annum  from  home,  as  his  pre- 
decessors were.  Signed,  Richd.  Bradley.  New  York, 
4th  Jan.,  1727.  4  pp. 

4.  ii.  Memorial  by  the  Attorney  General  of  New  York  to 
the  Governor  and  Council,  14th  Nov.,  1727.  Reports 
against  the  bill  for  preventing  prosecutions  by 
informations,  submitted  to  him,  as  contrary  to  the 
Common  Law  and  H.M.  Prerogative.  The  preamble 
misrepresents  matters  of  fact  in  stating  that  such 
prosecutions  have  been  for  trivial  matters.  Instances 
given.  It  would  be  most  unjust  to  quash  informations 
without  first  paying  the  Attorney  General  the  costs 
already  due  on  such  prosecutions.  The  second  enacting 
clause  that  the  Attorney  General  shall  not  prosecute 
for  any  misdemeanour  by  information  without  an 
order  from  the  Governor  signed  in  Council  is  directly 
repugnant  to  the  Common  Law.  The  King  cannot 
be  obliged  to  ask  the  leave  of  any  of  his  subjects 
whether  he  shall  prosecute,  or  how  or  where,  etc. 
Signed,  R.  Bradley.  Copy.  2f  pp.  [C.O.  5,  1092. 
Nos.  64,  64  i,  58.] 


Jan.  4.  5.  Mr.  Bradley  to  Mr.  Popple.  Encloses  above  memorial 
New  York  to  be  laid  before  the  Board  etc.  Continues  : — I  hope  their 
m  America.  Lclps.  will  be  pleased  to  observe  that  tho'  the  Assembly  should 
not  obtaine  the  Royal  assent  to  the  Act  agt.  informations  ; 
yet  if  it  be  not  rejected,  it  will  answer  their  intent  full  well  ; 
the  Act  being  but  for  three  years  ;  and  I  doubt  not  but  their 
Ldps.  will  from  their  former  experience  of  the  Assembly's  of 
this  country  and  the  present  disposition  they  seem  to  be  in  ; 
plainly  perceive  that  they  aim  at  [?  no  les\s  than  being  independ- 
ent on  the  Kingdome  of  Great  Britaine  as  fast  as  they 
can  ;  which  too  evidently  appears  by  most  of  their  schemes 
and  actions  that  relate  to  the  Publick  ;  and  therefore  seems  to 
me,  to  require  the  greater  zeal  and  courage  in  a  Govr.  to  obviate, 
altho'  it  should  not  happen  to  consist  with  his  own  private 
interest ;  which,  from  what  I  have  hitherto  observed,  seems 
to  have  been  almost  the  only  thing  intended ;  let  the 


i  COLONIAL   PAPERS. 

1728. 

consequence  be  what  it  will  as  to  anything  else  etc.  Signed, 
Richd.  Bradley.  Endorsed,  Reed.  27th  Feb.,  Read  1st  May, 
1728.  1-|-  pp.  Edge  torn.  Enclosed, 

5.  i,  ii.  Duplicates  of  Encl.  Nos.  i,  ii.  preceding. 

5.  iii.  Duplicate  of  Dec.  21,  1727.  Encl.  iii  Minutes.  [C.O. 
5,  1054.  ff.  258,  258u.,  259i>.,  263-274*;.] 

Jan.  4.  6.  Majority  of  Assembly  of  Barbados  to  the  Council  of 
Barbados.  Trade  and  Plantations.  Enclose  their  petition  to  the  King. 
Continue :  Wee  should  not  have  thus  abruptly  addressed  your 
Lordshipps,  but  the  Island  is  now  without  any  Agents,  and  ycur 
Lordshipps'  vigilance  and  zeale  to  protect  and  promote  the 
interest  of  all  H.M.  Colonyes  so  well  known  that  wee  flatter 
ourselves  your  Lordshipps  will  have  the  goodness  to  pardon 
our  presumption,  and  make  such  a  representation  of  our  con- 
dition to  H.M.  as  our  moveing  circumstances  stand  in  need  of. 
It  will  probably  seem  very  strange  to  your  Lordshipps  that  a 
Colony,  which  has  now  for  five  years  been  seemingly  so  well 
satisfied  with  a  Governour,  should  now  complain  of  grievances 
of  the  nature  set  forth  in  our  petition  ;  But  the  truth  is  wee 
were  tired  out  with  contentions,  and  willing  to  suffer  a  great 
deal  rather  than  be  troublesome,  till  at  length  wee  have  the 
mortification  to  see  our  country  brought  to  the  very  brink  of 
ruin.  Our  fortifications,  platforms  and  breast-works  are  now 
so  ruinous  that  £100,000  will  not  put  them  in  the  condition 
they  were  formerly  in  ;  But  if  they  were  in  order,  wee  have 
no  ammunition  to  defend  them,  so  that  in  case  of  an  attack, 
wee  must  surrender  to  any  invader.  Our  magazine  has  generally 
had  in  it  from  800  to  1000  barrels  of  good  powder  ;  But  now 
there  are  not  above  87  ;  and  of  those,  about  40  have  lately, 
upon  the  occasion  of  our  attempt  to  enquire  into  the  condition 
of  the  Magazine,  been  bought  by  H.E.'s  Secretary  from  the 
Deputy  Provost  Marshall  in  a  clandestine  manner  at  50s.  by  the 
barrell  (being  the  refuge  of  a  pyratical  cargo  sold  here),  H.E. 
having  made  a  personal  contract  with  the  late  store-keeper  for 
his  Secretary  to  farm  his  office  at  £300  current  money  per 
annum  rent.  This  deficiency  must  have  been  occasioned  by 
the  Secretary  accepting  money  instead  of  powder  contrary 
to  the  law,  or  selling  it  etc.  Our  Governor,  with  apparent  intent 
to  prevent  our  inquiring  into  and  representing  this  and  several 
other  grievances,  has  adjourned  and  prorogued  the  Assembly 
from  time  to  time,  and  wee  have  no  prospect  of  being  suffered  to 
sitt  any  more  on  business  etc.  Wee  therefore  pray  your  Lord- 
shipps to  pardon  our  directing  some  Gentlemen  in  London  to 
attend  your  Lordshipps  on  this  occasion.  Wee  have  omitted 
in  our  petition  the  particulars  of  H.E.'s  partial  proceedings  in 
the  Court  of  Chancery  ;  instances  whereof  are  but  too  many 
to  be  therein  inserted,  and  the  rather,  because  the  parties 
injured  are  ready,  on  any  enquiry,  to  exhibit  articles  against 


AMERICA  AND   WEST  INDIES.  7 

1728. 

him  touching  his  arbitrary  granting  and  refusing  injunctions, 
occasional  and  suddain  adjournments  of  the  Court,  and  his  even 
ordering  bills  to  be  taken  off  the  files  without  the  concurrence  or 
assent  of  the  Council,  but  on  the  contrary  refusing  to  take  their 
opinion  touching  the  same  etc.  Wee  are  not  insensible  but  that 
endeavours  have  lately  been  industriously  used  among  us  here  to 
procure  an  Address  in  December  last  from  the  late  Grand  Jury 
returned  out  of  three  parishes  only  and  pickt  to  represent  our 
Island  as  the  happiest  of  H.M.  West  Indian  Colony's  under 
the  present  administration  ;  and  wee  shall  not  trouble  your 
Lordshipps  with  a  repetition  of  the  usual  methods  taken  to 
procure  such  in  the  Plantations,  nor  of  the  common  practices, 
by  which  impositions  of  this  nature  have  sometimes  been 
successfull :  But  my  Lords,  If  wee,  in  conjunction  with  the  rest 
of  our  fellow-members,  the  Representatives  of  the  People, 
who  were  present  when  lately  wee  addressed  H.E.  on  the  occasion 
he  then  afforded  us  (v.  Minutes),  may  be  presumed  to  know  our 
own  and  the  People's  circumstances  better  than  persons  meanly 
culPd  out  to  obtrude  on  strangers  to  the  affairs  and  condition 
of  this  Island  such  fulsome  performances  for  truths  in  favour 
of  our  Governour  and  his  Judge,  an  active  Agent  on  that  and 
other  his  occasions,  etc.  Signed,  Hen.  Peers,  Edmund  Sutton, 
Thos.  Maycock,  jun.,  Tho.  Spencer,  Robt.  Yeamans,  W.  Gibbons, 
James  Bruce,  Edward  Brace,  Saml.  Maynard,  Jn.  Cobham, 
Jno.  Bignall,  Gel.  McMahon,  John  Walcott,  J.  Fercharson. 
Endorsed,  Reed.  24th,  Read  27th  Feb.,  172|.  Addressed. 
3  pp.  Enclosed, 

6.  i.  Petition  of  the  Majority  of  the  Assembly  of  Barbados 
to  the  King.  Jan.  4,  1727(8).  Petitioners  in  their 
legislative  capacity  lately  had  the  pleasing  satisfaction 
of  expressing  their  firm  loyalty  etc.  in  their  Address 
of  congratulation  etc.  They  cannot  now  without  the 
utmost  regret  and  deepest  sorrow  find  themselves  in 
their  private  capacity  under  the  necessity  of  approach- 
ing the  same  august  Presence  with  complaints  against 
H.E.  Henry  Worsley  etc.,  but  the  impending  ruin  of  this 
Colony,  which  can  only  be  prevented  by  your  Majesty's 
speedy  interposition,  constrains  them  etc.  In  1722, 
when  the  Governour  took  the  administration  upon 
him  and  for  many  years  before  the  Gentlemen  of  this 
Island  having  been  harrast  with  partys  and  divisions, 
in  hopes  to  put  an  end  to  the  same,  and  to  obtain  the 
redress  of  several  grievances,  were  wrought  upon 
to  submitt  to  a  settlement  of  £6000  sterl.  per  annum 
on  him  etc.,  a  settlement  so  very  extravagant  and  so 
much  more  than  what  the  country  could  afford  that 
the  inhabitants  could  never  have  long  supported 
themselves  under  the  same,  but  which  howsoever 
they  chearfully  submitted  to  for  several  years.  And 


COLONIAL   PAPERS. 

1728. 

yet  notwithstanding  the  Island  has  been  so  fair  from 
reaping  any  advantage  from  their  said  indiscreet 
generosity  that  the  publick  good  has  been  intirely  neg- 
lected ;  and  no  measures  taken  to  redress  the  greivances 
of  the  Island,  But  His  Excellency  and  his  creatures 
have  thereby  been  the  better  enabled  and  the  more  at 
leisure  to  oppress  the  inhabitants.  The  Militia  has  been 
totally  neglected,  the  forts,  breast-works  and  batterys 
are  gone  to  ruin,  the  publick  stores  are  imbezled  and 
wasted,  and  all  persons  in  office  under  H.E.  bussied 
in  nothing  but  how  to  raise  fortunes  from  the  ruins 
of  the  people  by  inventing  new  fees  and  perquisites, 
and  increasing  the  former  fees  and  emoluments  of 
their  several  offices  etc.  The  Freeholders,  rowssed 
at  last  with  a  just  sense  of  their  danger,  did  on  the 
election  of  the  present  Assembly  in  July  make  choice 
of  petitioners  and  others  to  enquire  into  and  procure 
redress  of  some  of  their  most  crying  grievances,  which 
when  the  Assembly  were  sitting  about,  with  all  the 
calmness  and  moderation  imaginable  and  with  due 
deference  and  regard  to  his  Excellency,  he  sought  all 
occasions  to  exasperate,  maletreat,  insult  and  abuse 
the  Assembly,  who  however  resolved  to  overlook  all 
indignitys  for  the  good  of  their  country,  and  the  said 
Governor  finding  that  he  could  not  provoke  the 
Assembly  to  return  the  ill  treatment  they  mett  with 
from  him  did  on  5th  Oct.,  command  them  to  adjourn 
for  four  weeks  and  though  upon  the  application  of 
the  Assembly  (who  humbly  represented  to  him  that 
several  bills  and  other  affairs  of  great  consequence 
were  then  depending  before  the  House,  and  therefore 
prayed  the  adjournment  might  not  be  for  so  long  a 
time)  he  was  pleased  to  shorten  the  adjournment  by 
the  space  of  two  days  only,  yet  before  the  time  of 
their  meeting  came  he  prorogued  them  to  the  9th  Dec. 
and  from  thence  to  20th  Feb.  (to  which  time  they 
now  stand  prorogued)  in  order  thereby  to  prevent 
any  inquiry  into  or  representation  of  his  male-adminis- 
tration untill  he  may  procure  the  renewall  of  his 
Commission  etc.  The  greivances  the  Island  now 
labours  under  and  the  male  administration  of  the 
Governour  will  appear  from  many  instances,  par- 
ticularly, (i)  He  has  never  reviewed  the  Militia  or  any 
of  the  forts  or  fortifications  (Needham's  Fort  only 
excepted,  which  is  scituated  a  short  mile  from  his 
house)  and  has  suffered  several  of  the  Regiments  to 
be  without  officers  ever  since  his  arrivall,  and  on  the 
common  exercising  days  such  of  the  Militia  as  do  meet 
have  not  been  exercised  for  years  together,  although 


AMERICA   AND    WEST   INDIES.  9 

1728. 

lists  have  been  called  and  fines  exacted  from  those 
who  did  not  send  their  full  complement  of  men  to 
exercise,  if  they  were  such  as  had  the  misfortune  to 
be  under  the  Governour's  or  officers'  displeasure, 
(ii)  He  has  permitted  the  powder  to  be  imbezled  and 
wasted  and  money  to  be  accepted  in  lieu  thereof,  so 
that  instead  of  800  barrells,  which  was  wont  to  be 
the  usual  quantity  in  the  Grand  Magazine,  there  are 
now  no  more  than  87,  and  that  which  makes  this 
charge  the  more  heinous  and  heavy  is,  that  the  custody 
of  the  magazine  has  been  notoriously  these  four  year 
past  in  the  hands  of  one  of  H.E.'s  domesticks,  William 
Webster,  Deputy  Publick  Secretary  etc.,  and  also 
H.E.'s  Secretary  and  Principall  agent,  on  whom  he  has 
moreover  bestowed  the  following  places,  Major  of  the 
Guards,  Master  in  Chancery,  Captain  and  Chief  Gunner 
of  the  Principall  fortifications,  Surveyor  General 
and  Captain  of  the  Magazine  Guarde  etc.  The  offices  of 
Storekeeper  and  publick  Secretary  are  incompatible 
to  be  held  by  the  same  person  etc.,  the  Secretary 
being  the  only  cheque  and  Comptroller  of  the  Store- 
keeper. In  case  of  warr  there  is  no  possibility  of 
purchasing  in  this  or  other  your  Majesty's  West  India 
Colonys  powder  sufficient  for  the  defence.  (iii)  The 
Governour  has  encouraged  and  countenanced  several 
of  the  Officers  of  the  Island,  and  particularly  the 
Deputy  Secretary  and  Deputy  Provost  Marshall  in 
taking  exorbitant  and  illegal  fees  to  the  great  opp- 
ressing and  impoverishing  of  the  inhabitants,  who  have 
hitherto  complained  thereof  in  vain.  These  grievances 
are  the  more  unsupportable  from  the  dismall  appre- 
hensions we  must  lye  under  in  case  of  a  warr,  the  forts 
and  other  fortifications  having  gone  to  ruin,  the 
breastworks  and  batterys  being  broken  down,  the 
great  guns  dismounted  and  without  carriages, 
warlike  stores  of  all  kinds  being  wholly  wanted,  and 
the  inhabitants  unable  to  bear  the  necessary  charge 
of  buying  powder  and  repairing  the  fortifications 
unless  timely  relieved  by  your  Majesty  etc.  Signed, 
Hen.  Peers,  Thos.  Maycock,  junr.,  Tho.  Spencer, 
Rt.  Yeamans,W.  Gibbons,  James  Bruce,  Gel.  McMahon, 
Saml.  Maynard,  Jno.  Cobham,  Edward  Brace,  Jno. 
Bignall,  John  Walcott,  J.  Fercharson.  1  large  folded  p. 
[C.O.  28,  19.  ff.  97-98u.,  101,  lOlu. ;  and  (duplicate  of 
enclosure)  28,  39.  No.  42.] 

Jan.  4.          7.     Council  of  Trade  and  Plantations  to  the  Lords  Com- 

wiiitehaii.     missioners  of  the  Treasury.     By  our  letters  of  22nd  Feb.  and 

31st  May  last  we  acquainted  your  Lordships  that  one  of  the 


10 


COLONIAL   PAPERS. 


1728. 


Jan.  9. 

New  York 
in  America. 


Jan.  9. 

Whitehall. 


Jan.  9. 

Whitehall. 


Jan.  9. 

Whitehall. 


Jan.  9. 


Jan.  9. 

Marlboro' 
Street. 


Jan.  10. 

St.  James's. 


partition  walls  of  our  Office  was  in  a  very  ruinous  condition. 
This  wall  is  now  grown  so  much  worse,  and  the  cracks  so  much 
wider,  that  we  think  it  is  in  immediate  danger  of  falling  etc. 
Request  that  it  may  be  rebuilt.  [C.O.  389,  37.  pp.  284,  285.] 

8.  Mr.  Bradley  to  the  Duke  of  Newcastle.     Asks    to    be 
appointed  to  vacancy  in  the  Council  of  New  York  caused  by  the 
death   of  Mr.   Barbaric.     Signed,   Richd.   Bradley.     Endorsed, 
R.  28th  Feb.     I  p.     [C.O.  5,  1092.     No.  65.] 

9.  Mr.  Popple  to  Mr.  Fane.     Encloses,  for  his  opinion  in 
point  of  law,  Excise  Act,  of  the  Massachusetts  Bay,  1726,  and 
a  printed  collection  of  16  Acts  of  the  same,  1727.     [C.O.  5,  916. 
pp.  55-58.] 

10.  Same  to  Same.     Encloses,  for  his  opinion  in  point  of 
law,  Act  of  Nevis,  1727,  for  raising  a  poll-tax  on  negroes  and  other 
slaves  etc.     [C.O.  153,  14.     pp.  275,  276.] 

11.  Council  of   Trade    and    Plantations    to   the    Duke    of 
Newcastle.      Enclose  following  to    be    laid    before  the  King. 
Annexed, 

11.  i.  Same  to  the  King.     Submit  following. 

11.  ii.  Draught  of  Commission  for  Thomas  Earl  of  London- 

derry to  be  Governor  of  the  Leeward  Islands,  and 
revoking  that  of  John  Hart.  [C.O.  153,  14.  pp. 
275-306.] 

12.  Mr.   Fane  to  the   Council   of  Trade  and   Plantations. 
Report   upon  Act  of  St.  Kitts  against  covenous  and  fraudulent 
conveyances  and  for  a  publick  Registry.     Considers  it  "  a  wise 
and  prudent  law  calculated  for  the  general  benefit  of  the  Island  " 
etc.,  but  agrees  with  Mr.  Smith's  objections  as  to  the  damage 
it  would  inflict  upon  the  Secretary's  office  (v.  6th  Oct.,  1727.) 
Proposes  therefore  that,  since  this  law  is  of  such  consequence 
to  the  property  of  the  island,  that  the  Legislature  there  be 
recommended  to  compensate  him  for  the  loss  he  would  sustain 
by  it  etc.     Signed,  Fran.  Fane.      Endorsed,  Reed  9th,  Read  10th 
Jan.,  172£.     2%  pp.     [C.O.  152,  16.    ^.120-121.] 

13.  Col.  Hart,  late  Govr.,  to  Mr.  Popple.    Proposes  to  attend 
the  Board  when  the  Register  Act  of  St.  Kitts    is    considered. 
Signed,  Jo.  Hart.     Endorsed,  Reed.  9th,  Read  10th  Jan.,  172  f. 
1  p.     [C.O.  152,  16.    ff.  122, 


14.     Copy  of  Commission  of  Governor  the  Earl  of  London- 
derry.    [C.O.  5,  194.    ff.  5-27.] 


AMERICA   AND   WEST   INDIES. 


11 


1728. 

Jan.  10.         1 5.     Order  of  King  in  Council.     Approving  draft  of  Com- 
st.  James's,  mission    for    Governor    the    Earl    of    Londonderry.     Signed, 
Robert  Hales.     Endorsed,  Reed.  29th,  Read  30th  April,  1728. 
1  p.     [C.O.  152,  16.    ff.  336,  337 v.] 

Jan.  10.         16.     Order  of  King  in  Council.     Approving  draft  of  Com- 
st.  James's,  mission    for    Governor    the    Earl    of    Londonderry.     Signed, 
Robert  Hales.     1%  pp.     [C.O.  5,  194.    #1,11;.] 


Jan.  11. 


Jan.  11. 


Jan.  11. 

Mincing 
Lane. 


Jan.  13. 

Barbados. 


1 7.  Mr.  Fane  to  the  Council  of  Trade  and  Plantations.     Has 
no  objection  to  Act  of  St.  Kitts  submitted  14th  Sept.,  1727, 
to  subject  all  produce  etc.  of  the  late  French  part  exported,  to  the 
4|  p.c.  duties  etc.     Signed,  Fran.  Fane.     Endorsed,  Reed.  17th 
.Jan.,    172$,    Read    5th    June,    1729.      1   p.     [C.O.    152,    17. 
ff.  67,  680.] 

18.  Mr.  Dunbar  to  the  Council  of  Trade  and  Plantations. 
Observations  upon  the  office  of  Surveyor  of  H.M.  Woods  in 
America  and  the  survey  and  intended  partition  and  settlement 
of  Nova  Scotia.     Abstract.     He  needs  deputies  and  a  guard 
against  hostile  Indians.     To  obviate  disagreements  with  the 
Surveyor  of  lands,  proposes  that  the  two  offices  be  combined 
in  one  person.     As  fellers  of  trees  are  scarce  and  their  wages 
excessive,  some   supernumerary   carpenters  should  be  sent  out 
from  the  King's  yards  and  saw-mills  erected  etc.     Signed,  David 
Dunbar.     Endorsed,  Reed.,  Read  23rd  Jan.,  172|.     Holograph. 
2  pp.     [C.O.  323,  8.     No.  82.] 

19.  Mr.   Humphrey  Morice  to  the  Council  of  Trade  and 
Plantations.     Testifies    to    the    integrity    of   Mr.    Willett    etc. 
(v.    Oct.    22,    1727)     Signed,   Hum.    Morice.     Endorsed,    Reed, 
llth,  Read  26th  Jan.,  172|.     1  p.     [C.O.  152,  16.    ff.  124, 125i;.] 

20.  Governor  Worsley  to  the  Duke  of  Newcastle.     Refers  to 
letter  of  21st  Nov.  last.     Continues  :    On  7th  Dec.  I  prorogued 
the  Assembly  to  20th  Feb.,  during  these  prorogations  the  people 
have  been  more  quiet  than  of  late,  saving  the  choice  of  a  Vestry 
for  the  parish  of  St.  Michael,  where  there  was  a  very  great 
struggle  in  order  to  fling  out  Judge  Pilgrim,  a  gentleman  of 
great   honour,    and   probity,    and   entirely   attached   to   H.M. 
person  and  government.     This  gentleman  was  a  Member  of 
the  last  Assembly  when  they  first  attempted  to  bring  in  the 
self-denying  bill,  which  he  very  vigorously  opposed,   and   pre- 
vented the  passing  it  in  that  Assembly,  for  which  reason  the 
factious  party  were  resolved  to  hinder  him  from  being  chosen 
a  Member  of  the  present  Assembly,  and  in  order  thereto,  sat 
up  Collo.  Peers,  son  in  law  to  the  late  President  Cox,  and  one 
of  the  richest  men  in  the  Island,  to  oppose  him  ;    As  Judge 
Pilgrim  has  always  given  such  publick    demonstrations  of  his 


12 


COLONIAL   PAPERS. 


1728. 


Jan.  13. 

Barbados. 


Jan.  18. 

Whitehall. 


Jan.  18. 

Whitehall. 


Jan.  20. 

St. 
Christophers. 


great  zeal  for  H.M.  service,  I  should  think  myself  deficient  in 
my  duty  if  I  did  not  particularly  recommend  him  as  a  person 
every  way  qualified  to  be  a  Member  of  H.M.  Council  here  etc. 
Signed,  Henry  Worsley.  Endorsed,  Rd.  March  8th.  3  pp. 
[C.O.  28,  44.  No.  118.]  , 

21  .  Same  to  the  Council  of  Trade  and  Plantations. 
Duplicate  of  preceding.  Signed,  Henry  Worsley.  Endorsed 
Reed.,  Read  8th  March,  172|.  2  pp.  [C.O.  28,  19.  ff.  172, 
.,  178r>.] 


22.  Order  of  Committee  of  Privy  Council.     Referring  to 
Attorney  and  Solicitor  General  for  their  opinion  the  Act  of 
Antigua  for  constituting  a  court  to  hold  pica  of  foreign  attachments 
etc.   and   the   representation   thereupon    (v.    14th   Dec.    1727). 
Signed,  Robert  Hales.     Endorsed,  Reed.  29th,  Read  30th  April, 
1728.     1  p.     [C.O.  152,  16.    ff.  330,  331*;.] 

23.  Order  of  Committee  of  Privy  Council.     Referring  to 
Attorney  and  Solicitor  General  Act  of  Antigua  for  securing  title 
of  George  Thomas  etc.,  with  representation  thereupon,     (v.  17th 
Nov.,  1727).  for  their  opinion.     Signed  and  endorsed  as  preceding. 
1  p.     [C.O.  152,  16.    ff.  334,  885u.] 

24.  Lt.  General  Mathew  to  the  Council  of  Trade  and  Plan- 
tations.    Is  sending  to  Mr.  Beak  three  Acts  of  St.  Kitts,  which 
he  hopes  will  obtain  their  approbation  etc.     (i)  For  regulating 
vestries  and  erecting  into  parishes  those  parts  of  this  Island  formerly 
belonging  to  the  French,  and  for  annexing  other  parts  of  the  said 
French  lands  to  the  parishes  etc.,  and  for  repealing  former  Acts 
for  regulating  other  vestries  and  for  ascertaining  the  bounds  of 
every  respective  parish,     (ii)  To  enable  the  several  parts  of  this 
island  formerly  belonging  to  the  French  to  choose  and  send  repre- 
sentatives to  serve  in  the  Assembly,  to  declare  and  ascertain  the 
number  of  representatives  for  the  whole  island,  what  number  each 
parish  shall  elect,  and  the  several  qualifications  of  the  electors  and 
candidates,  to    secure  the  freedom  of  elections,  and  repealing  an 
Act  of  1711  for  preserving  the  freedom  of  elections  etc.     (iii)  Re- 
pealing   an   Act    for   settling   £2000    upon    Governor  Hart   etc. 
Continues  :   The  first  became  necessary  not  only  for  the  reasons 
given  in  the  preamble,  but  for  laying  a  foundation  whereon 
to  build  the  second,  than  which  nothing  was  more  wanted  to 
settle  and  quiet  the  propertys  of  the  inhabitants  of  this  island, 
which  have  been  terribly  bandyd  about,  and  precarious  even 
to  pity,  from  the  small  number  of  the  Representatives  in  former 
Assemblys.     Twelve  was  the  former  number,  of  these  seven 
were  a  House,  and  of  these  four  were  a  majority  and  four  by 
bad  experience  have  been  found  for  some  years  past  to  govern 
the  whole,     The  supineness  of  some,  depending  circumstances 


AMERICA   AND   WEST   INDIES.  13 

1728. 

of  others,  under  daily  threats  of  persecution  in  courts  of  law, 
where  partiality,  tyranny  and  injustice  with  strange  methods  of 
oppression  were  dayly  us'd,  these  helped  to  give  the  four  that 
power  they  vexatiously  us'd  to  suck  out  the  very  hearts  blood 
of  the  poor  inhabitants  of  this  island.  But  now,  my  Lords, 
those  days  we  hope  are  over,  and  your  Lordships  recommending 
these  two  laws  to  be  presented  to  H.M.  for  his  assent,  will  be 
blessing  this  island  with  freedom  and  safety  to  their  propertys. 
I  shall  not  urge  examples  to  convince  your  Lordships  of  the 
truth  of  my  observations,  as  they  are  now  provided  against 
for  the  future,  unless  your  Lordships  order  me  so  to  do,  nor 
mention  the  sturdy  struggles  I  have  had  to  get  these  provisions 
made  for  the  public  good,  the  oppositions  almost  equal  to 
insults  I  met  with,  from  those  whose  tyranny  was  thus  to  be 
overcome,  or  who  abated  and  favour'd  thro'  fear  or  dependance 
these  cruel  men,  and  I  am  sorry  to  say  that  at  the  very  Council 
Board  they  were  able  to  influence  the  debates  there.  What 
happn'd  in  the  Assembly  I  am  no  other  wise  inform'd  of,  than 
by  the  Minutes,  and  which  that  House  have  desir'd  me  by  an 
Address  (which  I  enclose)  to  lay  before  your  Lordships,  and  for 
that  purpose  I  transmitt  them  to  Mr.  Beake.  When  your 
Lordships  examine  these  two  laws,  and  find  them  free  from  the 
least  private  view,  but  wholly  providing  for  a  publick  good,  you 
would  be  at  a  loss,  whence  any  opposition  to  them  could  have 
arisen,  had  I  not  thus  candidly  and  impartially  laid  the  truth 
before  you.  I  was,  I  own,  resolved  to  carry  them  if  possible, 
and  I  have  been  detain'd,  hitherto  on  this  island,  chiefly  to 
compass  them.  I  recommended  the  second  to  this  Island 
twelve  years  ago,  but  could  never  till  now  obtain  it :  As  a 
Commissioner  for  H.M.  sale  of  lands  I  joind  with  the  other 
Commissioners  in  informing  their  Lordships  of  the  Treary. 
how  much  it  concernd  H.M.  service,  that  those  we  sold  to, 
should  be  equally  concernd,  with  the  rest  of  the  island  in  the 
Legislature,  and  their  Lordships  were  pleased  to  signify  to  us 
by  Mr.  Scrope,  4th  Nov.,  1726,  that  we  should  prepare  and 
procure  the  passing  such  laws,  etc.  And,  my  Lords,  that  no 
one  symptom  might  be  to  encourage  jealousy s,  or  countenance 
the  many  strange  reports  put  about  of  private  views  of  my  own, 
and  intentions  of  advantage  to  myself,  as  soon  as  these  three 
laws  were  passed,  I  dissolv'd  the  present  Assembly,  and  am 
issuing  writts  to  call  a  new  one,  that  a  law  I  have  had  so  much 
at  heart  for  the  islands  good,  the  island  may  have  an  immediate 
advantage  of.  The  third  law  is  occasiond  from  Governour 
Hart's  verbal  resignation  as  mentiond  in  the  preamble.  It 
met  with  but  one  objection,  and  that  was  in  Council,  were  it 
was  suppos'd  he  might  possibly  return  as  Governour,  but  that 
was  dropp'd  on  a  recollection  that  H.E.  himself  had  declard 
at  that  Board,  just  afore  his  departure,  that  the  summe  was 
exorbitant,  and  a  burthen  the  Island  was  not  able  to  bear.  I 


14  COLONIAL   PAPERS. 

1728. 

pray  leave  to  make  a  further  remark  on  H.M.  Commission  to 
His  Chief  Governour  here,  and  which  I  omitted  1st  Dec.  The 
provision  in  case  of  the  Captain  General  and  Lt.  General's 
death  or  absence  is  that  the  chief  Government  should  devolve 
to  the  Lt.  Governour  of  Nevis,  or  at  his  death  to  the  eldest 
Councellor  and  Council  of  that  Island.  I  humbly  submitt 
to  your  Lordships  whether  that  provision  was  not  first  made 
when  Nevis  was  the  first  seat  of  trade  in  these  parts,  from  St. 
Christophers  being  often  ruind  by  French  invasions,  in  peace 
but  half  of  it  belonging  to  the  Crown  of  Great  Brittain,  Antego 
hardly  settled  or  cleard  out  of  woods,  and  Montserat  (at  best) 
inferior  to  it.  But  now  and  for  years  past  the  chief  trade  of 
the  Leeward  Islands  is  at  Antego,  next  and  very  near  to  it  at 
St.  Christophers,  Nevis  has  quite  losst  it's  trade,  and  is  a  desert 
island  to  what  it  was  thirty  years  ago.  If  the  reason  that  gave 
the  preference  to  Nevis  were  still  to  prevail,  the  Lt.  Governour 
of  Antego,  would  command  next  to  the  Lt.  General,  and  next 
to  the  Lt.  Governour  of  Antego  the  Lt.  Governour  of  St. 
Christophers.  But,  my  Lords,  as  matters  now  are,  Mr.  Sybourg 
will  hardly  come  to  Nevis  and  here  is  now  stated  a  case.  In 
case  of  my  death  the  first  Counsellor  of  Nevis,  assisted  by  the 
Council  there  will  command  the  Lt.  Governours  of  Antego  and 
Montserat,  does  not  H.M.  place  his  Lt.  Governours  at  the  head 
of  His  Councils,  must  two,  it  may  be  three  of  them,  be  under 
the  command  of  a  Gentlemen  without  Commission,  only  a 
nomination  to  a  seat  at  ye  Council  Board  ?  At  a  General 
Council  and  Assembly  that  Gentleman  would  have  place  at  the 
Council  Board  but  from  the  date  of  his  mandamus,  and  might 
still  sitt  below  older  Councellors  of  another  island,  whose  very 
Lt.  Govr.  as  the  Commission  now  is,  he  might  happen  the  next 
day  to  command.  I  submitt  it  to  your  Lordships  whether  it 
would  not  be  more  reasonable  that  in  case  of  the  Chief 
Governour's  or  Lt.  General's  death  or  absence  the  eldest  Lt. 
Governour  remaining,  should  command  in  chief,  if  the  preference 
to  Antego  and  next  to  St.  Christophers  be  disapprovd,  least  it 
happen  that  a  younger  Lt.  Governour  may  become  commander 
of  an  elder.  In  the  Islands  Anguilla,  Spanish  Town  and  Tortola 
there  are  many  good  subjects,  some  not  quite  so  good.  At 
the  ceremony  of  proclaiming  H.M.  there  was  some  misbehaviour 
at  Anguilla,  I  did  not  care  to  mention  to  your  Lordships  at 
that  time,  but  now  I  do  to  recommend  partly  what  I  humbly 
offer  to  your  Lordships  as  to  those  islands.  Governour  Hart 
chose  Col.  Phipps,  who  is  first  of  the  Council  of  this  Island,  a 
Gentlemen  of  great  good  nature,  integrity  and  worth  and  gave 
him,  as  he  was  most  acceptable  to  the  people  there,  and  best 
known  among  them,  a  Commission  as  Governour  of  these  and 
all  the  Virgin  Islands,  and  he  out  of  honour  to  it,  usd  to  go 
once  or  twice  a  year  at  his  own  expense  among  them,  (for  'tis 
not  worth  half  a  crown  a  year)  and  by  his  presence  and  caracter, 


AMERICA   AND    WEST   INDIES.  15 

1728. 

he  usd  to  bring  matters  into  some  temper.  There's  indeed  a 
particular  Lt.  Governour  to  each  of  them,  but  if  his  cudgell 
happen  to  be  a  whit  less  than  a  sturdy  subject's,  Good  night 
Governour.  Some  how  Col.  Phipps  displeased  General  Hart, 
and  he  was  removd  and  his  place  supplyed  by  one  Woodrope 
of  this  Island.  His  caracter  is  well  known  by  every  one  that 
ever  was  this  way,  and  I  shall  not  trouble  your  Lordships  with 
it,  otherwise  than  to  tell  your  Lordships,  that  to  free  those 
people  from  a  Bassa,  I  restord  Col.  Phipps.  In  these  islands 
there  are  continual  contentions  about  their  meum  and  tuum, 
poor  as  tis,  I  would  therefore  offer  that  some  sort  of  a  judicature 
be  settled  among  them,  at  present  the  strongest  has  the  best 
title.  And  this  must  be  some  sort  of  a  Court,  where  every 
man  may  be  heard  to  tell  his  own  story.  The  Gentlemen  of 
the  Barr  will  not  attend,  they  cannot  pay  them,  a  retaining  fee  at 
the  standard  of  three  or  four  years  last  past,  would  empty  the 
pockets  of  a  whole  Island.  Jurys  too  will  be  hardly  found 
among  such  small  numbers.  The  amount  on  the  most  populous 
of  these  Islands  hardly  reaches  200  familys.  They  deserve 
however  some  remedy  against  wrongs.  Your  Lordships  wisdom 
can  best  say  how.  In  criminal  cases  Justice  and  a  method  of 
it  is  as  much  wanted.  Innocent  blood  is  sometime  shedd,  and 
no  atonement  made.  Such  a  misfortune  hapnd  some  time  ago, 
the  criminal  brought  to  St.  Christophers,  tryd  and  condemnd, 
broke  gaol,  is  now  at  noonday  amongst  these  Islands,  and  no 
remedy,  for  after  all,  Governour  Hart  was  advis'd  from  home, 
his  tryal  at  St.  Christophers  was  illegal.  I  pray  your  Lordships 
a  farther  indulgence  etc.  Upon  the  death  or  absence  of  a  Captain 
General,  no  provision  is  made  to  keep  his  Commission  as  Vice- 
Admiral  in  force  here,  in  the  person  on  whom  the  Chief  Govern- 
ment devolves.  How  necessary  it  be  it  should  be  otherwise, 
your  Lordships  best  know.  The  Commission  of  Capt.  General 
provides,  that  does  not.  This  hapned  to  be  in  point  t'other 
day.  Mr.  Smith,  Secretary  of  these  Islands,  sends  me  your 
Lordships  report  on  his  case,  and  His  Grace  of  Newcastle's  order 
to  strengthen  it.  And  thereon  requird  me  to  recall  a  Commission 
given  by  Governour  Hart  at  Antego  to  a  Register  of  the 
Admiralty,  intimating  at  the  same  time  Mr.  Hart's  disobedience 
in  not  doing  it  before  ;  by  way  of  advice,  and  what  must  follow 
etc.  But  here  Mr.  Smith  and  I  differd  a  little  in  our  construction 
of  our  mother  tongue.  He  understands  your  Lops,  are  of 
opinion  evry  one  commission'd  for  any  branch  he  claims,  he  is 
immediately  to  be  turnd  out  and  he  let  in,  and  then  the  persons 
may  get  him  out  again  by  law,  if  they  can,  but  I  humbly  con- 
ceive your  Lordships  did  not  mean  such  a  remedy  at  law  for 
person  who  could  claim  none  after  his  Commission  was  recalld, 
but  that  your  Lordships  intended  Mr  Smith  should  continue 
possessd  of  evry  branch  he  held  at  any  time  by  his  patent,  or 
any  Commission  from  Governor  Hart  and  for  the  rest  that  your 


16  COLONIAL  PAPERS. 

1728. 

Lordships  referrd  him  to  his  remedy  at  law  on  the  validity  of 
his  patent,  against  any  one  that  usurpd  any  his  right.  I 
mentiond  this  to  him,  but  to  no  purpose.  Mr.  Smith  and  I 
are  on  terms  of  friendship,  but  he  was  growing  angry,  when  this 
discovery,  that  I  was  not  Vice- Admiral,  came  to  my  releif,  but 
least  he  should  begin  any  contention  with  me  before  your 
Lordships,  I  have  prayd  leave  to  say  so  much  of  the  matter. 
I  am  this  day  honourd  with  your  Lordships  commands  of  the 
31st  Aug.,  1727,  requiring  I  should  give  directions  to  the  proper 
officers,  that  all  Acts  and  Minutes  both  of  Council  and  Assembly 
should  be  fairly  abstracted  in  the  margins.  In  my  own  justifi- 
cation I  could  enclose  a  copy  of  my  letters  to  the  Secretary,  and 
so  long  since  as  September.  By  what  I  have  transmitted  to 
your  Lordships,  you  will  see  what  that  availd.  I  assure  your 
Lordships  I  have  sent  all  I  have  receivd.  The  Clerk  of  the 
Assembly  of  this  Island  alone  complyd  in  this  article.  The 
Act  I  sent  was  abstracted  by  my  own  Clerk,  as  are  the  three  I 
send  now.  He  should  have  abstracted  all  the  other  papers  I 
sent,  had  I  known  your  Lordships  would  absolutely  require  it. 
But,  my  Lords,  if  the  proper  Officer  does  it,  he  is  paid  for  it. 
My  Clerk  has  little  more  than  the  wages  I  pay  him.  I  shall 
signify  to  the  proper  officers  your  Lordships'  orders,  with  all 
speed.  Refers  to  enclosures  and  papers  sent  to  Mr.  Meure. 
P.S. — 22nd  Jan.  This  day  H.M.S.  Lark  anchord  at  Basseterre 
with  H.E.  Governor  Hunter  on  board.  He  did  me  the  honour 
of  dining  with  me  on  shore,  immediately  after  Admiral  Hopton 
in  H.M.  ship  Lyon  anchord  in  the  same  road,  and  accepted  my 
invitation  to  come  ashore.  They  were  receivd  with  the  best 
compliments  I  could  make  them,  embarked  again  in  the  evening, 
and  are  say  Id  for  Jamaica.  Signed,  William  Mat  hew.  Endorsed, 
Reed.  23rd  March,  Read  5th  April,  1728.  10  pp.  Enclosed, 
24.  i.  Address  of  Lt.  Governor,  Council,  Assembly  and 
inhabitants  of  St.  Christophers  to  the  King.  Loyal 
Address  upon  his  succession.  89  signatures.  Endorsed, 
Reed,  (from  Mr.  Meure)  26th  March,  Read  5th  April, 
1728.  1  large  p. 

24.  ii.  Address  of  Assembly  of  St.  Christophers  to  Lt.  General 
Mathew.  19th  Dec.,  1727.  The  Assembly  have 
nothing  in  view  but  the  honour  of  His  most  sacred 
Majestic,  the  security  of  the  island,  and  the  preserva- 
tion and  establishment  of  the  just  rights  and  priviledges 
which  his  Majestic  and  His  royal  predecessors  have 
graciously  been  pleas'd  to  allow  to  all  His  British 
subjects  etc.  Yet  there  have  been  persons,  and  even 
within  our  doors,  who  (acting  upon  private  and  sinister 
designes)  from  the  very  first  sitting  of  this  House, 
have,  as  much  as  in  them  lay  obstructed  all  our  pro- 
ceedings for  the  publick  wellfare  and  attempted  to 
prevent  or  imbarrass  the  passing,  even  of  those  laws 


AMERICA  AND   WEST  INDIES.  17 

1728. 

your  Honour  was  pleased  to  recommend,  and  which 
they  themselves  are  ashamd  to  avow  a  dislike  of.  To 
this  end  they,  by  a  behaviour  and  indecency  of  ex- 
pression very  unbecoming  the  Representatives  of 
a  country,  endeavoured  to  intimidate  the  Members 
and  introduce  confusion  in  our  debates,  but  finding 
they  could  not  thus  divert  the  House  from  their 
attention  to  the  publick  good,  they  then  withdrew 
themselves  from  their  attendance  in  it,  tho'  all  or 
most  of  them  allways  appear'd  in  defiance  of  it,  at 
the  place  of  Sessions,  on  every  meeting  etc.  We  have 
just  apprehensions  that  those  restless  persons  etc. 
will  misrepresent  our  proceedings  to  H.M.  We 
therefore  send  your  Honour  a  transcript  of  our  Journals 
to  be  layd  before  H.M.  and  the  Lords  Commissioners 
for  Trade  for  our  justification  etc.  Signed,  Matthew 
Mills,  Speaker.  Endorsed  as  preceding.  1  p. 

24.  iii.  Address  of  Same  to  Same.  19th  Dec.,  1727.  Offer 
tribute  of  thanks  and  affection  for  the  "  happyness 
and  security  we  owe  to  your  Honour's  administration." 
Instance  building  of  gaol  and  repair  of  forts,  and 
erection  of  fortifications  on  Brimstone  Hill,  carried 
out  by  him  with  the  greatest  frugality  and  accurate 
accounts,  of  which  every  single  article  was  proved  to 
be  paid  for  the  publick  use.  "  Under  your  adminis- 
tration, we  first  saw  our  publick  credit  rise.  To  put 
it  upon  an  equal  foot  with  that  of  private  persons, 
was  once  thought  impracticable  etc.,  yet  you  rais'd 
it  even  higher  etc.,  and  it  is  [due]  to  you  alone  the  publick 
publick  is  out  of  debt  etc.  Express  gratitude  for  the 
laws  which  he  proposed  and  has  passed  etc.  Signed 
and  endorsed  as  preceding.  If  pp. 

24.  iv.  Journal  of  Assembly  of  St.  Christophers,  5th  Dec., 
1727.  The  Committee  of  Accounts  reported  that  Lt. 
General  Mathew's  accounts  for  fortifications  were 
just,  reasonable  and  exact.  12th  Dec.  Accounts 
passed.  Same  endorsement.  Copy.  3|  pp. 

24.  v.  Opinion  of  Mr.  Warner,  Attorney  General,  upon  Mr. 
Smith's  demand  that  Lt.  General  Mathew  should 
revoke  Henry  Warner's  Commission  for  Register  of 
the  Admiralty  in  Antego  (v.  covering  letter).  Same 
endorsement.  Copy.  2|  pp. 

24.  vi.  Lt.-General  Mathew's  Instructions  to  the  Clerks  and 
Treasurers  of  the  Leeward  Islands  to  abstract  minutes 
in  the  margins  etc.  Sept.  18,  1727.  (v.  covering  letter). 
Same  endorsement.  Copy.  1|  pp. 

24.  vii.  Christenings  and  Burials  in  St.  Christophers,  Michael- 
mas 1726-1727  (by  parishes).  Totals  : — Christenings, 
155  ;  Burials,  94.  Same  endorsement.  6  pp. 

C.P.  xxxvi— 2 


18  COLONIAL   PAPERS. 

1728. 

[C.O.  152,  16.  ff.  231,  232,  233,  234,  235,  236,  237, 
238,  239,  240-242,  243-244t;.,  245i;.-250t;.,  25lv,  252, 
253,  254,  255,  256,  257,  2570.] 

Jan.  22.         25.     Anon  to  [?  ]  Revd.  Sir,  We  wrote  awhile  agoe 

Boston.  tne  Duke  of  Newcastle  as  also  Sir  Rot.  Walpole  the  very  de- 
plorable state  of  New  England,  but  fear  both  our  letters  are 
miscarry'd  etc.  We  H.M.  subjects  who  went  from  Ireland  to 
New  England  in  the  late  insurrection  of  the  Indians  suffer'd 
the  loss  of  all  we  had,  excepting  our  lives  (preserv'd  by  your 
garrison)  were  willing  and  desirous  to  return  to  our  plantations 
and  with  many  others  lately  arriv'd  since  petition'd  the  Genl. 
Assembly  here  for  unappropriated  lands  in  the  Eastward  near 
your  Garrison.  By  our  great  numbers  unanimity  and 
contiguous  building  we  should  have  been  able  to  defend  our- 
selves agt.  the  Indians  and  been  a  strong  frontier  to  all  the 
Eastern  parts,  but  the  Genl.  Assembly  who  love  none,  yea  hate 
all  but  those  of  their  own  country  and  profession  rejected  the 
petition  p.  66,  par.  1  of  the  votes  whereby  we,  who  before  the 
late  war  spent  all  we  had  and  made  H.M.  land  capable  of 
producing  flax  hemp  and  other  naval  stores,  are  cut  off  from 
all  hope  of  returning  to  our  former  possessions.  Since  that 
they  have  made  an  act  that  no  settlements  shall  be  made  to 
the  eastward  of  North  Yarmouth,  and  have  withdrawn  all 
the  soldiers  from  the  eastern  parts  whereby  not  only  your 
garrison  is  left  intirely  to  the  mercy  of  the  Indians  page  50 
(unless  H.M.  King  George  grant  you  a  few  souldiers  to  defend 
it)  but  many  familys  forced  to  leave  their  lands  and  dwellings 
with  H.M.  cultivated  land  to  the  Indians.  We  have  sent  you 
the  Minutes  to  prove  these  things  and  particularly  Mr.  Menzies 
being  expell'd  the  House  for  his  fidelity  vide  asterisms.*  Your 
son  is  turned  out  of  his  place  under  the  pretext  of  exacting 
upon  the  Indians  in  commerce  with  'em  but  they  peaceably 
suffer  their  own  countrymen  to  trade  as  they  will.  We  all  know 
'twas  impossible  for  him  to  stand  agt.  the  New  England 
antipathy  which  is  very  great  agt.  all  presbyterians  and  Church 
people.  Your  daughter's  character  has  been  industriously 
struck  at  by  the  people  here  of  New  England,  they  say  she  was 
the  Duke's  whore,  who  for  that  reason  recommended  her  brother 
to  our  Lieut.  Govr.  We  humbly  beg  you'l  lay  all  these  things 
before  his  Grace  with  your  own  hand,  and  the  affair  of  our  Lieut. 
Govr.,  and  the  Captn.  of  the  man  of  war,  and  we  obtest  and 
charge  you  that  you  answer  such  questions  as  his  Grace  shall 
put  to  you.  We  appeal  to  you  or  Mr.  Hamilton  for  the  truth 
of  these  things  and  desire  you  to  send  us  an  answer  directed  to 
the  Revd.  Mr.  James  McGregore  at  Nutfield  to  be  communicated 
for  we  must  not  write  our  names  lest  our  popular  Lieut.  Govr. 
cause  us  to  be  excommunicated  as  Mr.  McGregore  has  been 
allready,  only  for  ordaining  a  presbyterian  Minr.  in  conjunction 


AMERICA   AND   WEST   INDIES.  19 

1728. 

with  his  brethren  etc.  P.S.  If  the  King  don't  take  this  country 
and  South  Carolina  also  under  his  more  immediate  Government 
we  utterly  dispair  of  seeing  this  or  that  a  thriving  Colony. 
Signed,  J.  S.,  A.D.,  J.M.,  A.F.,  S.N.,  Q.D.,  wt.  300  more,  f  p. 
[C.O.  5,  898.  No.  43.] 

[Jan.  23.]  26.  Petition  of  the  Duke  of  Montagu  to  the  King. 
Petitioner's  intended  settlement  of  Sta.  Lucia  having  been 
disappointed  by  the  French  etc.,  prays  for  a  grant  of  Tobago, 
in  lieu  of  that  of  Sta.  Lucia  and  St.  Vincent,  which  petitioner 
offers  to  resign,  (i)  The  settling  of  Tobago  will  very  much 
augment  the  revenue  of  the  Crown  by  the  importation  of  the 
product  of  the  said  Island  to  Great  Britain,  and  as  the  duties 
paid  on  the  importation  of  the  sugar  product  of  Barbados  only 
amounts  to  upwards  of  £25,000  a  year  of  which  £10,000  belongs 
to  the  Crown  as  part  of  the  Civil  List  revenue,  it  is  more  than 
probable  that  in  less  than  seven  years  time  the  duties  on  the 
importation  of  Tobago  would  be  as  much  if  not  more  by  reason 
the  produce  of  that  Island  would  be  very  great,  from  its  being 
new  land  without  the  Crown  or  Nation's  being  at  the  least 
expence.  (ii)  The  settling  of  the  said  Island  will  encrease  the 
exportation  of  the  product  and  manufactures  of  Great  Britain 
for  the  support  of  its  inhabitants,  and  of  consequence  the  number 
of  ships  and  seamen  of  the  Kingdom  etc.  (iii)  So  much  more 
product  will  be  imported  to  Great  Britain,  and  consequently 
there  will  be  so  much  more  to  be  re-exported  to  foreign  countries, 
which  will  also  very  much  encrease  the  trade  navigation  and 
profit  of  the  Kingdom,  (iv)  The  settling  of  the  said  Island  will 
be  a  great  addition  of  strength  to  the  British  sugar  plantations 
and  a  great  security  against  the  growing  power  of  the  French 
Colonies,  every  ship  going  from  France  to  the  French  Islands 
being  obliged  to  carry  thither  a  certain  number  of  families,  by 
which  the  strength  of  their  islands  daily  encrease,  and  they  are 
now  so  powerfull  as  to  be  able  whenever  they  think  proper  to 
endanger  the  loss  of  the  British  Sugar  Plantations  which  are 
so  considerable  a  branch  of  the  Revenue  to  the  Crown  and  trade 
of  the  Nation,  unless  guarded  against  in  time  by  the  additional 
strength  of  new  settlements,  (v)  The  settling  of  Tobago  will 
be  very  advantageous  in  time  of  war  from  the  situation  of  the 
Island  which  is  such,  that  every  ship  going  from  Europe  or 
Affrica  to  Portobello,  La  Vera  Cruz,  Havana,  Carthagena, 
Portorico,  Hispaniola,  Cuba,  or  any  other  part  of  the  New 
Spain  must  of  necessity  sail  in  sight  of  or  near  this  Island, 
(vi)  If  not  settled  by  the  English  it  will  some  time  or  other  be 
settled  by  some  other  Nation  by  which  they  will  not  only  reap 
the  benefit  that  England  would  have  by  settling  this  Island 
but  their  strength  will  thereby  be  still  so  much  the  more  superior 
to  that  of  Great  Britain  in  that  part  of  the  world,  etc.  Signed, 
Montague.  Endorsed,  Reed.,  Read  31st  Jan.,  172|.  Subscribed, 


20  COLONIAL   PAPERS. 

1728. 

26.  i.  H.M.  is  graciously  pleased  to  referr  this  petition  to  the 
Council  of  Trade  and  Plantations  etc.  Signed,  Holies 
Newcastle.  The  whole,  5  pp.  [C.O.  28,  19.  ff. 
47-49,  50i>.] 

Jan.  24.         27.     Council  of  Trade  and  Plantations  to  the  Lords  Com- 
Whitehaii.    missioners  of  the  Treasury.    Request  payment  for  Office  expences 

and  Officers'  salaries  for  quarter  ending  Christmas  last.    Account 

annexed.     [C.O.  389,  27.     pp.  285-287.] 

Jan.  29.  28.  Protests  in  Council  by  Lt.  General  Mathew  against  the 
appointment  of  Chief  Justice  Greatheed  and  other  Justices, 
quam  diu  se  gesserint.  St.  Christophers,  March  6th,  1727,  with 
opinions  thereon.  Endorsed,  Reed.  29th  Jan.,  Read  5th  April, 
1728.  Copy.  61  pp. 

Protests  in  Council  by  Jos.  Estridge,  John  Willett  and  Charles 
Payne.  St.  Christophers,  13th  July,  1727,  against  the  removal 
of  Chief  Justice  Greatheed.  Same  endorsement.  Copy.  3%  pp. 

[Jan.  29.]  Opinion  upon  preceding  by  Ashton  Warner, 
Attorney  General,  July  24th,  1727.  Same  endorsement.  Copy. 
8  pp. 

[Jan.  29.]  Deposition  of  Thomas  Pilkington,  Merchant  of 
St.  Christophers,  22nd  July,  1727,  as  to  the  verdict  of  the  Jury 
of  which  he  was  foreman  against  James  Gordon.  Signed,  Tho. 
Pilkington.  1  p. 

[Jan.  29.]  Deposition  of  Richard  Haukshaw,  merchant  of 
St.  Christophers,  17th  July,  1727,  as  to  misbehaviour  by 
Edward  Johnson  as  Justice  of  the  Peace,  May,  1726.  Signed, 
Richd.  Haukshaw.  f  p. 

[Jan.  29.]  The  vindication  of  James  Gordon  in  reply  to  the 
reasons  given  by  Joseph  Estridge  and  John  Willett  against  his 
being  appointed  a  Judge  etc.  Signed,  James  Gordon.  3  pp. 

[Jan.  29.]  Answer  of  Lt.  Gen.  Mathew  to  the  dissent  of 
Estridge,  Willett  and  Payne  to  the  appointment  of  William 
Pym  Burt  to  be  a  Judge.  2  pp. 

[Jan.  29.]  Remonstrance  and  Information  to  Lt.  Gen. 
Mathew  against  Chief  Justice  Greatheed.  3  pp. 

[Jan.  29.]  Minutes  of  Council  of  St.  Christophers,  25th  Feb., 
1727  ff.,  relating  to  the  removal  of  Chief  Justice  Greatheed. 
21  pp. 

[Jan.  29.]  Deposition  of  Thomas  Pilkington.  St. 
Christophers,  20th  July,  1727,  as  to  Chief  Justice  Greatheed's 
partial  ruling  in  the  case  of  Thomas  Buttler  v.  James  Milliken, 
wherein  deponent  was  foreman  of  the  jury.  Signed,  Tho. 
Pilkington.  1  p. 

[Jan.  29.]  Deposition  of  James  Milliken.  Aug.  2,  1727. 
As  preceding.  Signed,  James  Milliken.  1  p. 

[Jan.  29.]  Deposition  of  Thos.  Bluett,  24th  Aug.,  1727. 
Chief  Justice  Greatheed  refused  to  allow  deponent,  as  attorney 


AMERICA  AND   WEST  INDIES.  21 

1728. 

in  case  of  Thomas  Butler  v.  John  Brownrigg,  carpenter,  for 
assault  and  battery,  to  pay  costs  and  amend  his  plea  according 
to  the  constant  practice  of  the  Court.  Signed,  Thos.  Bluett. 

1  p. 

[Jan.  29.]  Deposition  of  Thomas  Davis.  17th  Aug.,  1727. 
Describes  how  Butler  attacked  Brownrigg  (v.  preceding)  with 
sword  and  horsewhip,  before  Brownrigg  threw  stones  at  him 
in  self  defence  etc.  Signed,  Tho.  Davis,  f  p. 

[Jan.  29.]  Deposition  of  Edward  Mann.  18th  Aug.,  1727. 
In  Aug.  last  Dr.  Symon  Allen  desired  him  to  introduce  him  to 
the  Council  when  sitting  in  order  that  he  might  depose  that 
Chief  Justice  Greatheed  had  received  of  him  two  bills  as  a  bribe 
in  a  case  he  had  depending  before  him.  Dr.  Allen  afterwards 
became  distracted  and  died  so,  but  at  that  time  was  in  his  sound 
senses.  Signed,  Edwd.  Mann.  1  p. 

[Jan.  29.]  Deposition  of  Thomas  Bluett.  24th  Aug.,  1727. 
Practitioners  in  the  Court  of  King's  Bench  frequently  complained 
that  C.  J.  Greatheed  used  great  partiality  in  taxing  bills  of 
costs,  allowing  much  larger  bills  to  Mr.  Spooner  and  Mr.  Butler 
than  to  others  etc.  Signed,  Thos.  Bluett.  1  p. 

[Jan.  29.]  Deposition  of  Edward  Claxton.  25th  Aug., 
1727.  In  an  action  brought  by  deponent  against  Thomas 
Bisse  for  goods  delivered,  C.  J.  Greatheed  and  Edward  Johnson, 
a  Justice  Assistant,  assessed  damages  and  gave  judgment  for 
deponent  for  1600  Ib.  sugar,  and  £36  9s.  2|d.  current  money, 
on  the  evidence  of  his  books  only,  without  a  verdict  of  jury 
or  other  evidence,  Thomas  Butler  being  his  lawyer.  Signed, 
Edward.  Claxton.  f  p. 

[Jan.  29.]  Copy  of  clause  in  an  Act  of  Courts  of  St. 
Christophers,  25th  April,  1724,  enabling  Justices  to  determine 
actions  under  the  value  of  £10  etc.  frds  pp. 

[Jan.  29.]  Proceedings  in  the  Court  of  King's  Bench,  13th 
July,  1725,  in  the  case  of  Butler  v.  Brownrigg  (v.  supra).  Copy. 

2  pp. 

[Jan.  29.]  Writ  of  attachment  of  the  goods  of  John  Brown- 
rigg, now  absent  from  the  island,  as  security  for  his  answering 
Thomas  Butler,  Speaker  of  the  Assembly,  in  his  action  against 
him  (v .  supra)  2nd  June,  1725.  Signed,  John  Greatheed.  Copy. 
f  p.  Overpage,  List  of  goods  attached  accordingly.  Signed, 
Edmd,  Tannatt,  D.P.M.  |  p. 

[Jan.  29.]  Writ  of  possession  of  a  plantation  recovered  in 
judgment  in  the  case  of  Elizabeth  Crooke,  widow,  and  Clement 
Crooke,  infant,  John  Greatheed,  Peter  Thomas  etc.  v.  Stephen 
Duport.  Signed,  Peter  Thomas.  25th  May,  1724.  Possession 
given  accordingly.  Signed,  Edmd.  Tannatt,  D.P.M.,  Aug.  11, 
1724.  1  p. 

[Jan.  29.]  Proceedings  in  the  Court  of  King's  Bench  and 
Common  Pleas  in  the  case  of  Simon  Allen  and  Eleanor  his  wife  v. 


22  COLONIAL   PAPERS. 

1728. 

Benjamin  Estridge  in  a  plea  of  detinue  of  24  negroes  etc.  14th- 
23rd  May,  1724.  Judgment  of  recovery  for  plaintiffs  etc. 
Copy.  2  pp. 

[Jan.  29.]  Copy  of  writ  of  execution  in  above  case,  21st 
Feb.,  1724.  Signed,  John  Greatheed.  Copy.  1  p. 

[Jan.  29.]  Order  of  C.  J.  John  Greatheed  in  Court  of  King's 
Bench,  9th  March,  1727,  in  case  of  Prince  and  Bartholomew 
Lynch.  Copy.  |  p. 

[Jan.  29.]  Proceedings  of  above  Court  in  case  of  John  Denn 
v.  Robert  Roe,  a  plea  of  trespass  and  ejectment  for  two  planta- 
tions in  the  parish  of  St.  John  Capisterre,  Joseph  and  Benjamin 
Estridge,  lessors  etc.  llth  May-27th  Aug.,  1725.  Copy.  3pp. 

[Jan.  29.]  Copy  of  clause  in  Act  of  Courts,  25th  April,  1724, 
infringed  by  preceding.  1  p.  [C.O.  152,  16.  ff.  260-268, 
270,  272-274U.,  276-277,  278-279,  282,  284,  286,  288,  290,  292, 
294,  295,  297,  298,  299,  299u,  302-303,  304,  305,  306,  308,  309, 
310,  811.] 

Jan.  31.  29.  Duke  of  Montagu  to  the  Council  of  Trade  and  Planta- 
tions. A  very  violent  cold  prevents  me  having  the  honor  I 
intended  my  selfe  in  waiting  on  you  to  day  etc.  Encloses  his 
petition  (v.  Jan.  23).  Continues  : — As  what  I  aske  of  H.M.  is 
to  exchange  the  island  of  Tobago  for  those  of  St.  Lucia  and  St. 
Vincent  which  are  myne,  and  which  I  may  safely  say  I  have 
paid  dearly  for,  I  have  sent  your  Lordships  a  copy  of  my  grant 
of  those  Islands  etc.,  hopeing  that  I  shall  not  be  put  under 
harder  conditions  in  my  grant  of  Tobago  then  those  I  volun- 
tarily give  up.  I  am  informd  that  H.M.  who  has  been  so  good 
allready  to  express  his  willingness  to  grant  my  petition  provided 
your  Lordships  see  no  ill  consequence  from  his  doeing  so,  is 
desirous,  that  if  the  Island  be  granted  to  me,  it  may  not  be 
granted  to  me  in  the  nature  of  a  Proprietary  Government,  but 
that  the  soveranity  of  the  Island,  and  the  apointment  of  the 
Governor  may  be  reservd  to  the  Crown  ;  which  is  intierly  my 
own  sentiment,  and  which  I  very  redyly  agree  to,  and  your 
Lordships  will  see  that  my  grant  of  Sta.  Lucia  and  St.  Vincent 
was  in  that  manner,  but  as  I  am  desirous  their  may  be  as  few 
objections  as  possible  to  what  I  desire,  I  have  in  a  draft  of 
another  grant  which  I  propose  as  a  model  of  the  grant  of  Tobago 
(v.  end.  ii),  intierly  separated  the  grant  of  the  Island,  from  the 
grant  of  the  Government  which  were  in  sum  measure  intermix'd 
in  my  grant  of  Sta.  Lucia,  etc.  Your  Lordships  will  find  in  it 
the  soile  of  the  Island  onely,  with  such  powers,  jurisdictions, 
and  advantages,  which  every  Lord  of  a  manor  enjoies,  and  which 
it  can  be  no  prejudice  to  the  Crown  to  grant,  given  to  me  my 
heirs  and  asignes  for  ever,  next  you  will  find  the  intire  soveranity 
of  the  Island  reserv'd  to  H.M.  and  his  successors,  then  you  will 
find  the  constitution  of  a  Governor  with  his  powers,  which  are 
the  same  with  the  Governors  of  the  other  Islands,  and  lastly 


AMERICA   AND   WEST   INDIES.  23 

1728. 

is  the  office  of  Governor  granted  to  me  and  my  heirs  male,  which 
I  hope  your  Lordships  will  have  no  objection  to,  sence  in  my 
grant  of  St.  Lucia  that  office  was  granted  to  me  and  my  heirs 
for  ever,  and  that  it  woud  be  impracticable  for  me  to  undertake 
the  setlement  of  the  Island  without  being  Governor  of  it,  att 
lecst  for  my  lyfe,  from  the  many  inconveniencis  which  of  nesesity 
woud  arize  in  makeing  such  a  setlement  if  the  Government  was 
in  the  hands  of  any  person  over  whom  I  had  no  power  ;  and  as 
I  propose  in  this  grant,  which  was  not  in  my  other,  that  the 
Deputy  Governor  which  I  shall  apoint  with  the  aprobation  of 
H.M.,  shoud  att  any  tyme  be  remov'd  att  H.M.  pleasure,  I 
hope  you  will  find  the  Government  of  the  Island  will  thereby 
be  so  much  in  the  power  of  the  Croun  that  you  will  not  see  any 
ill  consequence  in  the  Croun's  granting  me  the  office  of  Governor 
of  the  Island  in  the  manner  I  desire,  there  is  one  other  thing 
in  this  draft  I  recomend  to  your  consideration,  which  I  hope 
you  will  not  think  onreasonable,  which  is  that  as  it  must  of 
nessesity  be  a  great  expence  to  me  in  makeing  fortifications  to 
secure  the  Island,  that  whenever  the  Government  goes  out  of 
my  famely,  they  may  be  reimbursed  that  expense,  as  to  all 
the  conditions  on  which  the  Island  is  to  be  granted  to  me  you 
will  find  them  the  same  as  those  on  which  St.  Lucia  and  St. 
Vincent  were  granted  me,  with  one  more  condition  aded,  which 
is,  that  as  soon  as  I  shall  be  in  quiet  possestion  of  the  Island  of 
Tobago  I  shall  resigne  all  my  right  and  tytle  to  the  Islands  of 
St.  Lucia  and  St.  Vincent  to  H.M.  and  his  heirs.  In  the  in- 
structions given  to  Lord  Belhaven  and  Mr.  Worsley  by  which 
they  were  impowered  to  grant  lands  in  Tobago,  the  foure  and  a 
halfe  per  cent  duty  to  be  paid  on  the  exportation  of  the  product 
of  those  lands  was  not  to  comence  tell  ten  year  after  the  date 
of  the  grants,  and  if  the  same  might  be  alowed  now  it  woud 
be  a  very  great  encouragement  to  the  settlement,  but  I  submit 
every  thing  to  your  Lordships,  and  as  I  am  persuaded  you  will 
think  the  setting  of  Tobago  is  att  this  tyme  very  nessesary  to 
secure  it  to  Great  Britain  from  the  encroachments  that  are  daily 
made  upon  us  by  our  neighbors,  I  flater  my  selfe  you  will  not 
onely  report  in  my  favour,  but  that  you  will  represent  to  H.M. 
the  nessesity  of  asserting  his  right  and  suporting  the  setlement 
of  that  Island,  espestialy  since  it  will  not  be  a  proprietary 
Government.  I  shall  conclude  by  beging  of  your  Lordships 
to  enjoin  secrecy  to  your  Clerks  and  other  servants  threw 
whose  hands  this  afaire  must  pass,  that  if  possible  it  may  not 
be  mentioned  out  of  your  Board,  any  where  but  in  the  other 
offices  where  of  nessesity  it  must  go  threw,  leest  it  shoud  come 
to  the  knowlege  of  any  of  our  neighbours  whom  I  said  before 
are  glad  of  any  opertunity  to  encroach  upon  us,  and  who  very 
possibly  upon  the  knowledge  of  a  designe  of  settling  this  Island 
myte  be  beforehand  with  us.  Signed,  Montagu.  Endorsed, 
Reed.,  Read  21st  Jan.,  172$.  Holograph.  4  pp.  Enclosed, 


24 


COLONIAL   PAPERS. 


1728. 


Feb.  2. 

Whitehall. 


Feb.  2. 

Montscrrat. 


[Feb.  6.] 


Feb.  7. 

Whitehall. 


[Feb.  8.] 


29.  i.  Duke  of  Montagu's  Grant  of  Sta.  Lucia  and  St. 
Vincents,  20th  June,  1722.  Enrolled  in  the  Office 
of  the  Auditor  of  America,  27th  July,  1722.  Copy. 
Endorsed  as  preceding.  15  large  pp. 

29.  ii.  Draft  of  proposed  grant  of  Tobago  to  the  Duke  of 
Montagu,  referred  to  in  covering  letter.  Same 
endorsement.  23  pp.  [C.O.  28,  19.  ff.  51-52^.,  53v., 
54-90, 


30.  Council  of  Trade  and  Plantations  to  the  Duke  of  New- 
castle. Enclose  Address  from  New  Jersey,  to  be  laid  before 
the  King.  (v.  Dec.  18,  1727.)  Autograph  signatures.  1  p. 
[C.O.  5,  980.  No.  44  ;  and  5,  996.  p.  249.] 

31  .  Capt.  George  to  [?the  Duke  of  Newcastle].  Refers  to 
letter  two  years  ago  asking  for  the  Government  of  Bermudas, 
which  he  had  hoped  to  obtain,  but  now  learns  it  is  disposed  of 
to  Mr.  Pitt.  Continues  :  That  which  I  at  present  have,  is  such 
an  expence  to  me  (for  the  country  does  not  give  me  one  shilling) 
that  even  the  pay  and  perquisites  of  my  Company  is  not 
sufficient  to  defray  etc.  Asks  leave  to  dispose  of  his  Government 
and  Company,  "  which  together,  will  ammount  to  about  one  or 
two  and  twenty  hundred  pounds,"  and  retire  to  S.  Carolina  or 
Virginia,  "  for  I  see  no  probability  in  the  station  I  am  at  present 
in,  of  laying  up  anything,  towards  discharging  such  debts,  as 
was  the  occasion  of  my  leaving  England,  but  the  contrary." 
Refers  to  his  services  in  the  army  for  25  years  etc.  Signed, 
Paul  George.  Endorsed,  Rd.  May  24th.  1|  pp.  [C.O.  152, 
43.  ff.  25,  25v.,  26v.] 

32.  Edward  Johnson  to  the  Council  of  Trade  and  Planta- 
tions.    Asks  for  copy  of  the  reasons  alledged  by  Lt.  Governor 
Mathew  for  displacing  him  as  Judge  etc.     (v.  C.S.P.  15th  Aug. 
and  6th  Oct.  1727.)     Endorsed,  Reed,  (from  Mr.  Matthews,  Mr. 
Johnson's  Agent),  Read  6th  Feb.,  172|.     1  p.      [C.O.  152,  16. 
ff.  139,  140».] 

33.  Mr.   Popple  to  Mr.   Scrope.     Refers  to  letter  of  16th 
March,  1727.     Continues  :  —  My  Lords  having  now  under  their 
consideration  Instructions  for  Col.  Dunbar,  appointed  Surveyor 
General  of  H.M.  woods  in  America,  think  this  a  proper  occasion 
of  reminding  the  Lords  of  the  Treasury  of  the  draft  of  the  bill 
for  the  better  preservation  of  H.M.   woods  therein  enclosed  etc. 
[C.O.  324,  11.     pp.  60,  61.] 

34.  Extracts    of  letters  from  John  Bennet,    Merchant   in 
Barbados,  to  the  Duke  of  Montagu,     (a)  Barbadoes,  Sept.  17, 
1726.     There  are  now  about  300  French  families   settled  on 
St.  Lucia,  and  some  of  them  owners  of  20  or  30  negroe  slaves, 


AMERICA   AND   WEST   INDIES.  25 

1728. 

so  that  'tis  not  to  be  doubted  but  they  will  make  themselves 
masters  of  it  by  degrees,  as  also  of  St.  Vincent  and  Dominico, 
by  means  of  their  Fryars  and  other  Missionaries  who  use  all 
their  arts  to  gain  the  Indians  and  negroes.  Proposes  that  the 
English  should  have  some  encouragement  to  be  making  settle- 
ments on  St.  Lucia,  as  well  as  the  French,  for  it  is  certain  they 
are  connived  at  and  underhand  encouraged.  Continues : — 
We  have  now  a  great  many  vessells  trading  in  the  Petite 
Careenage  and  also  about  the  Island  for  timber,  which  is  very 
valuable,  and  would  be  more  so,  should  we  be  denied  by  the 
Dutch  to  trade  to  Surrinam,  of  which  there  has  been  some  talk, 
and  some  of  our  vessells  have  actually  returned,  without  being 
permitted  to  trade  etc.  Many  of  our  English  would  likewise 
make  settlements  on  St.  Lucia,  and  clear  up  parcells  of  land  in 
such  parts  as  suited  them,  provided  they  had  some  assurances 
from  your  Grace,  that  they  should  not  be  dispossessed 
of  their  lands,  but  should  hold  them  by  some  certain  easy 
and  reasonable  tenure.  Should  your  Grace  impower  any 
person  to  give  out  grants  in  your  name,  in  such  manner  as  was 
Mr.  Uring,  the  English  would  settle  there  as  fast  as  the  French 
without  putting  you  to  any  further  expence.  The  consequence 
of  which  might  be,  that  possibly  the  French  might  get  possession 
of  one  half  of  the  Island,  and  we  of  the  other,  as  formerly  on 
St.  Christophers  etc.,  which  would  be  better  than  to  suffer  the 
French  to  settle  it  entirely.  Their  possessions  are  too  great 
already  amongst  these  Islands  etc.  Suggests,  alternatively, 
a  Treaty  with  the  French  etc. 

(b)  Nov.  30,  1727.  Acknowledges  letter  of  Jan.  24,  1727. 
Encloses  following,  showing  how  the  French  are  making  them- 
selves masters  of  St.  Vincents  by  the  only  advisable  method. 
Were  they  to  do  it  openly  and  by  force,  the  negroes  and  Indians 
would  obstruct  them,  as  they  have  formerly  done,  but  by  the 
preaching  and  insinuation  of  their  Fryers,  and  gratuities  of 
rum  sugar,  and  other  little  commodities,  they  insensibly  in- 
sinuate themselves  into  the  affections  of  those  people,  and  begin 
to  make  themselves  not  only  acceptable,  but  usefull  and 
necessary  amongst  them.  It  is  certain  that  St.  Vincent  has 
of  late  supplied  Barbadoes  with  several  sloop  loads  of  corn. 
All  which  is  enough  to  alarm  the  British  Ministry  as  they  regard 
the  protection  and  trade  of  the  Caribbee  Islands,  for  they  are 
growing  so  powerfull  that  if  not  speedily,  nay  immediatly 
stopt  in  their  progress,  they  will  certainly  destroy  all  the  Leeward 
English  Islands  and  Barbadoes  itself.  Besides  the  French 
Court  has  transmitted  to  Martinique  an  Edict  prohibiting  all 
manner  of  trade  in  the  W.  Indies  with  the  English  Danes  and 
Dutch  and  ordered  several  sloops  be  employed  as  guarde  de 
la  costas  etc.,  and  at  the  same  time  giving  licence  to  all  French 
vessells  to  trade  to  the  Spanish  Islands  of  Margarita,  Trinidada 
and  Portorico.  Your  Grace  will  best  judge  for  what  reasons 


26 


COLONIAL   PAPERS. 


1728. 


Feb.  8. 

Whitehall. 


this  is  done  etc.  I  have  sent  to  Mr.  Woodbridge  a  small  sample 
of  the  tobacco  that  the  French  make  on  St.  Vincents,  which  I 
had  from  Mr.  Ridley  etc.  Copy.  Enclosed, 

34.  i.  Deposition  of  John  Ridley  of  Barbados,  28th  Nov., 

1727.  On  4th  Nov.  deponent,  master  and  owner  of 
the  sloop  Endeavour,  proceeded  to  Corbaco,  a  fine  bay 
in  St.  Vincents,  to  meet  another  sloop  he  had  sent  to 
cut  timber.  There  were  settled  six  or  seven  French 
families,  and  about  a  league  to  the  north  in  another 
bay  fourteen  or  fifteen.  The  said  inhabitants  raised 
provisions  and  a  great  quantity  of  very  good  tobacco, 
somewhat  like  that  of  Brazil.  Deponent  was  informed 
that  there  were  French  inhabitants  settled  in  most 
parts  of  the  Island,  and  in  one  part  there  was  a  con- 
siderable town  and  a  Mass  house  ;  that  there  are  a 
great  many  free  negroes  and  Indians  on  the  Island 
and  the  French  are  daily  coming  over  to  settle  there 
from  Martinique,  and  that  they  raise  and  export 
great  quantities  of  corn.  He  was  informed  by  a 
schooner  from  Martinique,  that  a  French  man  of  war 
was  coming  from  Martinique  to  seize  their  sloops,  or 
to  know  by  what  authority  the  English  cut  timber 
there,  whereupon  deponent  hastened  to  Barbados, 
etc.  Signed,  John  Ridley.  Endorsed,  Reed,  (from 
D.  of  Montagu),  Reed.  8th  Feb.,  172|.  Copy.  The 
whole,  4  pp.  [C.O.  28,  19.  ff.  92-93?;.,  95v.  ;  and 
(duplicate  of  enclosure)  96,  96*;.] 

35.  Mr.    Popple    to    Lt.    General    Mathew.     Acknowledges 
letters  of  31st  May,  24th  June,  15th  Aug.,  12th  Oct.,  and  1st 
Nov.     Continues  : — In  these  letters  you  mention  several  papers 
to  be  presented  to  the  Board  by  Mr.  Beak,  Mr.  Butler,  and  Mr. 
Meure  ;  But  this  being  a  method  of  correspondence  not  approved 
of  by  their  Lordships,  I  am  commanded  to  signify  to  you  their 
desire,  that  your  letters  to  them,   and  whatever  papers  are 
therein  referred,  may  for  the  future  be  sent  sealed  directly  to 
the  Board.     H.M.  having  been  pleased  to  refer  to  their  Lordships 
a  petition  of  Mr.  Greathead  etc.  (v.  No.  28),   and   they  having 
moved  that  both  you  and  he  may  be  directed  with  such  other 
persons  as  you  and  he  shall  think  proper,  to  make  affidavits 
before  any  judge  or  magistrate  in  St.  Christophers  etc.,  and  that 
the    said    affidavits    be    mutually    exchanged    between    you, 
and  then  transmitted  to  my  Lords,  under  the  Seal  of  the  Island 
etc.,  their  Lordships  expect,  that  you  should  punctually  comply 
with  what  is  above  proposed,  as  soon  as  possibly  may  be.     I 
have  wrote  by  their  Lordships'  order  to  this  purpose  to  Mr. 
Greathead.     Mr.  Willett,  having  complaind  of  his  having  been 
ill  used  by  you  in  Council  (copy  enclosed),  my  Lords  expect  you 
will  in  like  manner  transmit  your  answer  thereto  etc.     I  have 


AMERICA   AND    WEST   INDIES. 


27 


1728. 


Feb.  8. 

Whitehall. 

Feb.  8. 

Whitehall. 


Feb.  8. 

H.M.S. 

Berwick 

Port  Royal, 

Jamaica. 


also  acquainted  Mr.  Willet  with  their  Lordships'  directions  etc. 
Their  Lordships  observe  by  your  letter  of  15th  Aug.,  that  you 
are  preparing  an  account,  in  the  nature  of  a  present  state  of 
the  Leewd.  Islands  which,  as  their  Lordships  think  it  will  be 
of  great  advantage  to  them,  I  am  to  desire  you  will  transmit 
it  as  soon  as  possible.  [C.O.  153,  14.  pp.  307-309.] 

36.  Same  to   Mr.   Great  head.     Directs  him  to   proceed   as 
above.     [C.O.  153,  14.     pp.  309,  310.] 

37.  Same  to  Mr.  Willett.     Directs  him  to  proceed  as  above, 
"  as  their  Lordships  are  of  opinion  that  every  Member  of  the 
Council  ought  to  enjoy  freedom  of  debate  and  vote,  their  Lord- 
ships are  always  desirous  of  doing  whatever  in  them  lies,  to 
promote  the  same  "  etc.     [C.O.  153,  14.     pp.  310,  311.] 

38.  Capt.  Gordon  to  Mr.  Delafaye.     This  [is]  the  poorest 
squadron  that  ever  went  home  from  these  parts,  all  of  them 
having  drawn  monney  from  home  except  Capt.  Solegard,  and 
which  is  worst  of  all,  no  monney  in  the  country  to  be  sent  home. 
I  have  been  but  once  at  sea  since  I  came  to  this  country,  and 
on  the  second  day  after  I  was  out,  lost  all  my  mast,  sailes  and 
rigging,  and  lye  in  harbour  now  till  my  stores  come  from  home  ; 
however  those  that  goe  to  sea  can  meet  with  nothing  out  of 
harbour,  all  the  Spaniards  keeping  close  in  port  etc.      Has  sent 
an  express  to  Admiral  Hosier  with  Sir  Charles  Wager's  orders, 
in   accordance    with   enclosed   instruction    etc.      Signed,     Geo. 
Gordon.     Endorsed,  R.  15th  April.     Holograph.     1  p.  Enclosed, 

38.  i.  Commodore  St.  Loe  to  Capt.  Gordon.  Bredah,  Port 
Royal,  Dec.  1727.  Instructs  him  to  forward  by 
express  any  letters  that  may  arrive  to  him  off  Point 
Canoa  etc.  Signed,  E.  St.  Loe.  Copy.  1  p.  [C.O. 
137,  53.  ff.  16,  17, 


Feb.  8.  39.  Mr.  Carkesse  to  Mr.  Popple.  The  Commissrs.  observing 
Custom  ho.  that  it  has  been  the  practice  to  permit  logwood  of  the  growth 
and  produce  of  the  Bay  of  Campechea  to  be  carryd  directly 
to  Holland  and  other  foreign  parts  from  New  Yorke  and  other 
British  plantations  and  it  being  required  by  law  that  all  fustick 
or  other  drying  wood  of  the  growth,  production  or  manufacture 
of  any  British  Plantation  in  America,  Asia  or  Africa  which  shall 
be  exported  from  thence,  shall  be  brought  directly  to  some  port 
in  Great  Britain  and  there  put  on  shoar,  the  Commrs.  desire 
you  will  move  the  Lords  of  Trade  and  Plantations  for  their 
opinion  whether  Campechea  is  to  be  esteemd  a  Plantation 
belonging  to  the  Crowne  of  Great  Britain  etc.  Signed,  Cha. 
Carkesse.  Endorsed,  Reed.  8th,  Read  9th  Feb.,  172|. 
Addressed.  1  p.  [C.O.  388,  27.  T.  7.] 


28 


COLONIAL   PAPERS. 


1728. 

Feb.  9.          40.     Mr.    Popple   to   Mr.    Carkesse.     In  reply   to  preceding, 
Whitehall,     encloses  copy    of    Representation  of  25th  Sept.,   1717.     [C.O. 
389,  28.     p.  332.] 

Feb.  9.  41.  Council  of  Trade  and  Plantations  to  the  Duke  of 
Whitehall.  Newcastle.  Enclose  following.  Continue : — Your  Grace  will 
perceive  etc.  that  the  French  are  actually  peopling  the  islands  of 
St.  Vincents  and  Sta.  Lucia,  and  that  their  strength  is  increasing 
so  fast  in  the  Charribbee  Islands,  that  if  some  stop  be  not 
speedily  put  thereto,  there  is  great  reason  to  fear  that  all  the 
Leeward  Islands,  and  even  Barbados  itself,  will  be  in  great 
danger  in  case  a  rupture  shou'd  happen  between  the  Crown 
of  France  and  this  Kingdom.  Your  Grace  will  likewise  perceive 
that  the  French  at  St.  Vincent  do  raise  and  export  great 
quantities  of  corn,  and  that  Barbadoes  has  of  late  been  supplyed 
with  several  sloop  loads  thereof,  to  the  detriment  of  the  trade 
formerly  carried  on  between  that  Island  and  some  of  H.M. 
Northern  Plantations.  There  is  one  particular  more,  which 
we  begg  leave  to  mention  to  your  Grace  vizt.,  that  a  French 
man  of  war  was  expected  from  Martinique  to  seize  what  English 
sloops  shou'd  be  found  at  St.  Vincents,  or  to  know  by  what 
authority  the  English  cut  timber  there  ;  we  need  not  upon  this 
occasion  repeat  to  your  Grace  the  too  well  known  consequence 
of  permitting  the  French  thus  to  become  masters  of  places  to 
which  H.M.  has  an  undoubted  title  and  therefore  shall  make  but 
this  one  observation,  that  the  French,  if  left  at  liberty  to  become 
masters  of  these  islands,  will  be  possess'd  of  the  finest  and  safest 
harbour  in  all  America  ;  by  which  means  they  will  not  only 
have  it  in  their  power  to  make  themselves  masters  of  all  the 
trade  to  the  Spanish  West  Indies,  but  will  have  many  more 
opportunities  of  clandestinely  importing  into  H.M.  Charibbee 
Islands  such  foreign  goods  as  ought  legally  to  be  imported  thither 
from  hence  only,  to  the  manifest  detriment  of  the  trade  of  this 
Kingdom.  Autograph  signatures.  3  pp.  Enclosed, 

41.  i.  Copy  of  letter  from  Mr.  Bennet,  No.  34  (b). 

41.  ii.  Copy  of  deposition  of  John  Ridley,  No.  34.   i. 

[C.O.    152,    40.      Nos.    22,    22.    i,    ii  ;      and   (without 
enclosures)  29,  14.     pp.  431,  432.] 

[Feb.  10.]  42.  List  of  papers  received  from  Mr.  Meure,  referred  to  by 
Lt.  General  Mathew  in  late  letters,  relating  to  the  removal  of 
Chief  Justice  Greathead  etc.  2  pp.  Endorsed,  Reed.  10th 
Feb.,  Read  5th  April,  1728.  2  pp.  [C.O.  152,  16.  ff.  258, 
258v,  259v.] 

Feb.  10.  43.  Governor  Hunter  to  the  Council  of  Trade  and  Planta- 
tions. By  H.M.S.  the  Dunkirk  (which  is  the  first  opportunity 
that  has  offered  since  my  arrival)  I  have  the  honour  to  acquaint 
your  Lordships  that,  after  a  very  agreeable  passage  of  eight 


AMERICA   AND   WEST   INDIES. 


29 


1728. 


weeks,  I  came  safe  here  on  the  29th  of  the  last  month  etc.  My 
Commission  was  published  the  next  day  etc.  and  a  general  satis- 
faction appeared  among  the  inhabitants.  I  have  with  the 
advice  of  the  Council,  issued  writts  for  calling  an  Assembly  ; 
and  they  are  to  convene  the  28th  of  March  :  I  am  in  hopes  they 
will  meet  with  a  good  disposition  to  promote  H.M.  service  and 
the  interest  of  their  country.  I  have  not  as  yet  had  leisure  to 
inform  myself  particularly  into  the  several  branches  of  H.M. 
Instructions,  upon  which  I  am  commanded  to  correspond  with 
your  Lordships  ;  But  I  shall,  without  loss  of  time  apply  myself 
to  the  faithful  discharge  of  my  trust  etc.  Prays  for  their 
favourable  construction  etc.  Continues  :  Admiral  Hopson 
intends  to  sail  to-morrow  for  Carthagena,  with  such  ships  of 
his  squadron  as  are  fit  for  sea  ;  and  by  the  latest  advices  we 
have  from  thence  the  galleons  were  still  in  that  port  :  It  is 
generally  believed  that,  if  they  stay  much  longer  there,  most  of 
them  will  be  rendred  incapable  of  returning  to  Europe,  etc. 
Signed,  Ro.  Hunter.  Endorsed,  Reed.  24th  April,  Read  2nd 
May,  1728.  2  pp.  Enclosed, 

43.  i.  Governor  Hunter's  declaration  in  Council,  31st  Jan., 
1727-8,  with  Council's  Answer.  Mutual  assurances 
of  good  will  etc.  Endorsed  as  preceding.  Printed.  I  p. 
[C.O.  137,  17.  ff.  40,  40u., 


Feb.  10.        44.     Governor  Hunter  to  the  Duke  of  Newcastle.     Repeats 
Jamaica,     part  of  preceding  letter,  mutatis  mutandis.     Signed,  Ro.  Hunter. 
Endorsed,  R.  April  15th.     If  pp.     Enclosed, 

44.  i.  Duplicate  of  No.  43  i.     [C.O.    137,    53.    ff.  19,  19u., 
20u.,  21.] 

Feb.  12.  45.  Lt.  Governor  Gooch  to  the  Council  of  Trade  and  Planta- 
\viiiiams-  tions.  Encloses  Minutes  of  Council  to  Dec.  last,  Naval  Officer's 
lists  of  imports  and  exports  for  half  year  ending  Michaelmas, 
and  accounts  of  imports  from  Madera  and  the  Azores,  and  of  the 
negroes  from  Africa  to  the  same  time.  Continues  :  Pursuant 
to  the  directions  of  his  late  Majesty,  I  have  appointed  Wm. 
Byrd,  Richd.  Fitzwilliam  and  Wm.  Dandridge  Esqrs.  Com- 
missrs.  (the  two  last  are  in  the  place  of  Col.  Harrison  deceased) 
for  settling  the  boundaries  between  this  Government  and  the 
Province  of  North  Carolina  :  and  have  so  far  concerted  this 
matter  with  the  Governor  of  that  Province  that  the  Com- 
missioners on  both  sides  are  to  meet  5th  March  in  order  to  put 
a  final  end  to  that  dispute,  which  has  been  so  many  years  in 
contest,  and  I  hope  my  next  will  bring  the  account  of  its  con- 
clusion. The  jealousies  that  had  lately  spread  themselves 
between  our  Tributary  Indians  and  some  of  their  neighbours 
(whereof  notice  is  taken  in  the  Journal  of  2nd  Nov.,  and  of 
which  I  some  time  since  sent  your  Lordships  the  report  of  the 
march  of  some  of  our  Militia  under  the  command  of  Col. 
Harrison)  are  I  hope  so  entirely  removed,  as  to  leave  no  further 


30  COLONIAL   PAPERS. 

1728. 

apprehension  of  any  rupture  between  them,  which  otherwise 
might  have  given  great  uneasiness  to  our  frontier  inhabitants. 
It  would  I  presume  be  needless  to  trouble  your  Lordships  with 
observations  drawn  from  these  Journals  :   seeing  they  are  either 
necessary  orders  for  qualifying  officers  on  H.M.  accession,  or 
private  disputes  about  entrys  for  land,  which  are  of  little  con- 
sequence.    But  there  is  one  thing  in  the  Journal  of  4th  Nov. 
which  concerns  myself  etc.,  'tis  an  unanimous  vote  of  the  Council 
for  paying  me  £300  out  of  the  Revenue  towards  defraying  the 
extraordinary  charge  I  was  at  in  transporting  myself  and  family 
hither  ;    This  resolution  was  so  unexpected  that  I  had  not  the 
least  notice  of  it  till  the  day  it  was  proposed  at  the  Board,  and 
I  thought  it  would  not  become  me  to  refuse  this  extraordinary 
instance    of   their  regard.     All   I   shal    offer   further    on    this 
subject  is,  to  pray  your  Lordships'  favourable  construction  as 
well  of  their  offer  as  my  acceptance  ;    and  I  hope  it  will  pass 
the  better  when  your  Lordships  consider  the  present  state  of 
that  Revenue  as  it  appears  in  the  late  half  year's  accompt 
(which  is  also  inclos'd)  the  ballance  whereof  is  upwards  of  £6000. 
Perusing  my  Instructions,  I  found  one  (No.  119)  wherein  I  am 
enjoyn'd  to  propose  a  law  for  making  the  Virginia  estates  of 
bankrupts  .liable  to  the  satisfaction  of  their  English  creditors  ; 
but  upon  examining  into  the  practice  in  such  cases  (with  sub- 
mission) I  am  perswaded  those  creditors  have  as  great  advantages 
now  for  the  recovery  of  their  debts,  as  they  could  expect  or 
reasonably  desire  by  a  special  law  for  that  purpose  :    for  if  a 
merchant  in  England  breaks  and  has  effects  in  Virginia,  everyone 
of  his  creditors  there  has  not  only  the  benefit  of  their  dividend 
from  his  effects  upon  the  commission  of  bankruptcy  sued  out 
there,  but  they  have  the  oppertunity  on  his  failure,  of  sending 
over  hither,  and  here  bring  suit  for  the  recovery  of  his  effects 
in  this  country,  and  in  such  case  they  have  an  equal  share  of 
whatever  is  discovered  in  this  country  in  proportion  with  the 
Virginia  creditors  ;    whereas  the  latter  can  pretend  to  no  part 
with  them  of  what  is  recovered  in  England,  seeing  the  distance 
makes  it  morally    impossible    for    them    to    make    out  their 
demands   before  the   Commissioners   here   have   finished  their 
accompts  and  made  the  dividend.     This  being  the  true  state 
of  that  case,  I  doubt  not  your  Lordships  will  be  of  opinion  that 
there's  no  occasion  for  such  a  law  etc.     The  General  Assembly 
called  by  my  predecessor  being  of  course  dissolved  by  the  King's 
death  :    I  have  called  a  new  one  which  met  the  first  instant. 
Encloses  Speech  and  Address  etc.     Continues :    By  the  choice 
the  people  have  made  of  their  Representatives,  I  have  reason 
to  hope  for  an  happy  issue  of  their  proceedings,  etc.     Signed, 
William  Gooch.     Endorsed,  Reed.  17th  April,  Read  2nd  May, 
1728.     2  pp.     Enclosed, 

45.  i-iv.  Duplicate    of    Nos.    46    i,    iii-v.     [C.O.    5,    1321. 
ff22,  25-28,  29u.,  30,  3lv.-33v.  ;    and  (abstract)  23.] 


AMERICA   AND   WEST   INDIES. 


31 


1728. 
Feb.  14. 

Williams- 
burgh. 


46.  Lt.  Governor  Gooch  to  the  Duke  of  Newcastle.  Having 
in  my  former  letters  given  your  Grace  a  relation  of  the  most 
considerable  occurrences  since  my  entring  on  the  administration 
of  this  Government :  etc.  encloses  journals  of  Council  to  Dec. 
Repeats  parts  of  preceeding.  I  presume  it  would  be  needless  to 
trouble  your  Grace  with  observations  drawn  from  these  journals  ; 
seeing  they  are  either  necessary  orders  for  qualifying  officers  on 
H.M.  accession,  or  private  disputes  about  entrys  for  land,  which 
are  of  little  consequence.  Encloses  Speech  and  Addresses. 
Concludes  :  That  [address]  to  H.M.  I  am  desired  to  recommend 
to  the  Merchants  to  attend  it  when  presented  to  H.M.  by 
Micajah  Perry  Esq.  one  of  the  City  Members,  which  I  do  by 
the  same  conveyance,  directing  Mr.  Perry  to  wait  upon  your 
Grace  with  it.  By  the  choice  the  people  have  made  of  their 
Representatives  I  have  reason  to  hope  for  an  happy  issue  of 
their  proceedings,  etc.  Signed,  William  Gooch.  Endorsed,  Rd. 
April  15th.  1  Jrd  pp.  Enclosed, 

46.  i.  Address  of  the  House  of  Burgesses  of  Virginia  to  Lt. 
Govr.  Gooch.  We  cannot  sufficiently  express  the 
joy  with  which  our  hearts  are  filled,  to  see  ourselves 
under  the  government  of  a  person  in  all  respects 
qualyfied  etc.  The  character  wch.  in  your  private  life 
you  had  established  among  all  that  knew  you,  reached 
us  before  your  arrival  etc.  But  since  we  have  had  the 
pleasure  of  seeing  the  beauties  of  that  character 
illustrated  by  the  example  of  your  life  in  what  concerns 
the  dutys  of  religion,  your  courteous  and  affable 
behaviour  to  all  etc.,  your  hospitality  and  charity,  and 
the  prudence  and  evenness  of  your  temper,  wch.  you 
discover  upon  all  occasions,  we  have  abundant  reason 
to  think  ourselves  an  happy  people  etc.  Nor  can  we 
doubt  but  example,  wch.  is  the  best  of  all  instruction, 
will  have  a  great  influence  on  all  that  see  you,  to 
follow  those  excellent  rules  you  was  pleas'd  to 
lay  down  in  your  Speech  (No.  iv)  for  wch.  we  beg 
leave  to  return  you  our  humble  and  unfeigned  thanks. 
Copy.  1  p. 

46.  ii.  Address  of  the  Council  and  Burgesses  of  Virginia  to 
the  King.  Their  sorrow  for  the  loss  of  the  King  his 
father  is  turned  to  gladness  by  his  peaceful  accession, 
etc.  Continues  : — It  is  the  peculiar  happiness  of  this 
country  that  we  are  more  than  any  other  of  the 
American  Plantations  united  in  the  religion  of  the 
Church  of  England,  and  our  civil  rights  and  liberties 
are  secured  to  us  by  the  same  excellent  laws,  which 
have  ever  been  the  boast  of  the  English  Nation,  and 
have  made  them  greater  than  any  other  people. 
Therefore  it  merits  our  most  thankfull  acknowledg- 


32  COLONIAL   PAPERS. 

1728. 

ments  that  your  Majesty  has  been  pleased  to  declare 
your  resolution  to  make  the  establishment  in  Church 
and  State  your  first  and  always  your  chief  care.  And 
as  we  have  always  been  happy  under  the  protection 
and  Government  of  the  Crown  of  England,  so  we 
already  at  this  distance  feel  the  extensive  influence  of 
your  Majesty's  just  and  wise  councels  in  placing  over 
us  Mr.  Gooch  etc.  Pray  for  H.M.  long  reign  etc. 
Copy.  If  pp. 

46.  iii.  Account  of  H.M.  Revenue  of  2s.  per  hhd.,  25th  April- 
25th  Oct.,  1727.  Totals : — Balance  brought  forward, 
£4660  135.  4fd.  Received,  £3745  18s.  2\d.  Expen- 
diture, £2102  4-s.  7fd.  Balance,  £6304  6s.  ll^d. 
Signed,  John  Grymes,  Recr.  Genii.  Audited  by  Nathl. 
Harrison,  Depty.  Auditor.  Sworn  to  in  Council  by 
John  Grymes.  2  pp. 

46.  iv.  Lt.  Governor  Gooch's  Speech  to  the  Council  and  Bur- 
gesses in  Assembly.  Will  make  it  his  constant  care 
to  promote  and  propagate  religion  and  virtue.  It  is 
his  peculiar  felicity  to  come  to  a  country  where  the 
doctrine,  discipline  and  worship  of  the  Church  of 
England,  are  not  only  established,  but  almost  univer- 
sally received,  but  if  there  are  any  Dissenters  among 
them,  with  consciences  truly  scrupulous,  he  will  think 
an  indulgence  to  them  so  consistent  with  the  genious 
of  the  Xtian  religion,  that  it  can  never  be  inconsistent 
with  the  interest  of  the  Church  of  England.  Urges 
loyalty  to  the  House  of  Hanover  and  enforcement  of 
the  laws,  and  also  the  observance  of  the  social  virtues 
of  civility,  good-nature,  hospitality  and  good  neigh- 
bourhood etc.  Recommends  to  the  Burgesses  repair 
of  the  battery  at  Point  Comfort  and  the  building  of  a 
light-house  on  Cape  Henry,  which  is  so  much  wanted 
for  the  preservation  of  the  shipping  from  the  danger 
of  the  enemy  as  well  as  seas,  that  he  hopes  they  will 
once  more  consider  it.  "A  clause  may  be  inserted  to 
prevent  you  being  at  any  danger  thereon,  unless  our 
neighbours  of  Maryland  either  will  or  can  be  compelled 
to  contribute  towards  its  maintenance."  Recommends 
to  the  Council  agreement  upon  some  methods  to  prevent 
delays  in  the  Courts  of  Justice,  and  a  new  law  con- 
cerning tobacco,  and  promises  his  concurrence  in  all 
measures  for  the  encouragement  of  their  trade  and 
happiness  etc.  Copy.  %\rd  pp. 

46.  v.  Address  of  Council  of  Virginia  to  Lt.  Governor  Gooch. 
Return  thanks  for  preceding  Speech  and  express 
loyalty  and  good-will.  Copy.  1  p.  [C.O.  5,  1337. 
Nos.  41,  41.  i-v.] 


AMERICA  AND   WEST   INDIES. 


33 


1728. 

Feb.  15.         47.     Order    of   King   in    Council.     Approving    draughts    of 
st.  James's.  Governor  Bumet's  Commissions  etc.     Signed,  Temple  Stanyan. 

Endorsed,  Reed.  29th,  Read  30th  April,  1728.     l£  pp.     [C.O. 

5,  870.     ff.  59,  590.,  60v.  ;    and  5,  194.     /.  113.] 

Feb.  15.         48.     Order  of  King  in  Council.     Repealing  Act  of  New  York 
st.  James's,  for  the  easier  partition  of  lands  etc.     Signed,  Temple  Stanyan. 

Endorsed,  Reed.  29th,  Read  30th  April,  1728.     2  pp.     [C.O.  5, 

1054.     ff.  234,  234u.,  235u.] 

Feb.  15.  49.  Order  of  King  in  Council.  The  Committee  for  hearing 
st.  James's,  appeals  etc.  having  reported  that  Mr.  Hope's  Counsel  agreed 
to  Mr.  George  Tucker  being  restored  to  his  offices  of  Secretary 
and  Provost  Marshal  General  of  Bermuda,  ordered  accordingly, 
and  that  he  be  paid  one  moiety  of  the  profits  arising  from  said 
offices  during  his  suspension  ;  and  that  in  case  there  should  be 
any  refusal  in  such  payment,  petitioner  be  at  liberty  to  put 
the  security  in  suit,  in  the  name  of  whomsoever  it  has  been 
taken  etc.  Signed  and  endorsed  as  preceding.  2|  pp.  [C.O. 
37,  12.  ff.  7-8v.] 

Feb.  15.         50.     Order  of  King  in  Council.     Referring  following  to  the 
st.  James's.  Council  of  Trade  and   Plantations  for  their  immediate    con- 
sideration and  report    as    to    the    methods  which    will    most 
effectually  conduce  to  the  ends  proposed,    "  H.M.   in  Council 
judging  it  highly  necessary  for  the  service  of  his  Navy,  that  the 
strictest  care  ought  to  be  taken  of  H.M.  woods  in  North  America 
and  all  proper  encouragement  given  for  the  raising  of  hemp  and 
all     other     navall    stores  "    etc.      Signed,     Temple     Stanyan. 
Endorsed,  Reed.  19th,  Read  20th  Feb.,  172|.     \\pp.     Enclosed, 
50.  i.  Lords  Commissioners  of  the  Admiralty  to  the  King 
in    Council.     Admty.    Office.     13th   Jan.,    1727.     We 
having   received    frequent    complaints    of  the   illegal 
and    unaccountable    waste    and    destruction    of   your 
Majesty's  woods  in  North  America,  by  the  unjustifiable 
liberty  the  inhabitants  of  New  England  have  taken 
in  cutting  down,  and  converting  to  their  own  use,  not 
only  great  numbers  of  the  trees  in  the  said  woods,  but 
even  those,  which  were  the  most  proper,  and  absolutely 
necessary  for  masts  for  the  ships  of  your  Majesty's 
Royal  Navy,  insomuch  that  if  some  speedy  and  effectual 
care  be  not  taken  to  prevent  the  same  there  will  not 
be  any  trees  remaining  for  the  said  service  ;  we  thought 
this  a  matter  of  too  great  consequence  to  your  Majesty's 
service    to    let    it    longer    pass,    without    taking    the 
necessary  precautions,  as  far  as  the  same  does  relate 
to  us  etc.    We  have  upon  enquiry,  been  informed  by 
the  Principal  Officers  and  Commissioners  of  the  Navy, 
that    Mr,    Burniston,    who    was    in    1718    appointed 

C.P.XXXVI— 3 


34  COLONIAL   PAPERS. 

1728. 


Surveyor  Generall  of  H.M.  Woods  etc.,  hath  not  either 
by  himself,  or  deputy,  given  them  any  accounts  of  his 
proceedings  etc.,  and  that  he  hath  not  personally  been 
in  North  America,  but  constantly  resided  in  England, 
notwithstanding  that  it  was  so  absolutely  necessary 
that  he  should  have  constantly  abode  in  New  England 
etc.  It  would  have  been  of  great  advantage  if  he  had 
been  bred  a  shipwright,  and  skilled  in  the  nature  and 
quality  of  naval  stores  etc.  Mr.  Gulston,  who  is  under 
contract  to  furnish  masts  for  the  Royal  Navy  from 
New  England  etc.  hath  represented  to  the  aforesaid 
Commissioners,  that  very  great  abuses  have  been 
committed  in  cutting  down,  and  exporting  timber 
fitt  for  masts  ;  which  exportations  have  probably 
furnished  foreign  countreys  in  enmity  with  Great 
Britain  ;  and  that  unless  speedy  and  effectual  care 
be  taken  to  cultivate  and  preserve  timber  trees  in 
New  England,  especially  near  the  water  side,  the  Royal 
Navy  cannot  be  supplyed  from  thence,  or  that  at 
least  it  must  be  very  expensive  to  the  Crown.  The 
preservation  of  masts,  and  all  sorts  of  timber  trees, 
fitt  for  the  Navy,  as  well  as  the  planting  and  improving 
of  other  navall  stores  in  general  in  N.  America,  is  of 
great  importance  to  your  Majesty's  service,  and  the 
same  doth  principally  depend  on  the  care  of  a  diligent 
and  honest  Surveyor  of  your  Majesty's  Woods, 
supported  in  the  due  execution  of  his  duty  by  the 
authority  of  the  Crown.  The  said  Commissioners  of 
the  Navy  are  humbly  of  opinion  the  aid  of  an  Act  of 
Parliament  may  be  requisite,  to  regulate  and  restrain 
the  licentious  pretences  of  townships  in  your  Majesty's 
said  Government  of  New  England,  to  cutt  down  any 
timber  within  their  districts,  fitt  for  masts,  and  that 
if  the  said  Act  did  enforce  the  penalties  mentioned 
in  the  Charter  granted  in  the  third  year  of  the  reign 
of  King  William  and  Queen  Mary,  and  extend  to  the 
prosecution  of  all  offenders,  and  to  the  inflicting  severe 
punishments,  even  upon  the  Governours  of  the 
provinces,  and  the  Surveyor  himself,  and  his  assistants, 
when  legally  convicted,  it  might  effectually  obtain 
the  end  proposed  ;  for  that  thereby  all  sizes  of  masts 
might  be  preserved  for  the  Royall  Navy,  as  well  trees 
under  24  inches  diameter  for  future  supplies,  as  those 
above,  and  no  tree  be  cut  to  waste,  but  converted  as 
occasion  should  require,  by  a  skillfull  hand,  nor  any 
pine  tree  whatever  be  cutt  down  by  the  inhabitants 
of  any  district,  until  it  should  be  first  surveyed,  and 
a  mark  of  leave  put  thereon  by  the  Surveyor,  or  his 
assistants.  Such  endeavours  for  obtaining  a  supply 


AMERICA   AND   WEST   INDIES.  35 

1728. 

of  all  naval  stores  from  your  Majesty's  own  plantations, 
deserves  the  greatest  care  and  attention,  since  it  may 
prove  of  infinite  advantage  to  this  nation,  in  case  of 
a  rupture  with  the  Northern  Powers,  from  whom  the 
Navy  is  usually  supplyed  ;  but  the  woods  have  been 
under  no  other  inspection  for  many  years  past,  than 
of  an  officer  of  the  Customs,  deputed  by  the  aforesd. 
Mr.  Burniston,  whose  education  did  by  no  means 
qualify  him  to  be  a  proper  judge  of  masts  etc.  The 
said  Commissioners  have  represented,  that  as  to  the 
usefullness  of  the  Naval  Stores  imported  from  America, 
the  pitch  and  turpentine  have  proved  very  serviceable, 
and  no  ways  inferior  to  that  of  Sweden  or  Russia  ; 
that  the  tarr  hath  likewise  been  found  very  useful! 
in  the  Navy  for  ship  work,  tho'  not  yet  arrived  to  the 
perfection  that  it  is  to  be  hoped  etc.  for  making  cordage  ; 
and  that  the  hemp  had  been  so  improved,  that  upon 
an  experiment  made  of  a  sample  thereof,  brought 
from  Virginia,  it  hath  appeared  equal  in  goodness  to 
the  best  Riga  hemp,  insomuch  that  if  proper  instruc- 
tions were  given  to  the  Surveyor  Generall  of  the  Woods, 
the  planters  might  be  induced  by  him  to  improve  the 
same,  and  large  supplies  of  that  commodity,  in  time, 
be  procured  for  the  service  of  this  Kingdom  ;  and  the 
tarr  improved,  which,  as  well  as  other  naval  stores, 
hath  of  late  years  been  imported  from  thence  in  great 
quantities  etc.  We  entirely  concurr  with  the  above 
observations  of  the  Commissioners  of  the  Navy,  and 
most  humbly  represent,  that  the  preservation  of  the 
woods,  and  using  all  possible  means  to  cultivate  hemp 
and  other  stores,  will  very  much  tend  to  the  advantage 
of  your  Majesty's  service,  with  respect  not  only  to 
the  Royal  Navy,  but  to  the  Nation  in  general ;  and 
that,  in  order  thereunto,  it  is  absolutely  necessary  the 
Surveyor  General  should  constantly  reside  in  North 
America,  and  employ  his  utmost  care  and  skill  not 
only  in  surveying  your  Majesty's  woods  there,  and 
preserving  them  from  waste,  but  in  the  instructing 
and  encouraging  the  inhabitants  to  propagate  all 
sorts  of  stores  which  the  country  will  produce  ;  and 
that  he  should  have  such  instructions  for  his  govern- 
ment therein,  as  shall  be  judged,  may  most  effectually 
conduce  thereunto.  Signed,  Torrington,  Jo.  Cokburne, 
Jno.  Norris,  T.  Littleton,  L.  Malgras.  Copy.  4f  pp. 
[C.O.  323,  8.  Nos.  83,  83.  i.] 

Feb.  15.         51.     Order  of  King  in  Council.     The  Council  of  Trade  are 

St.  James's,  to  insert  a  clause  in  Lord  Londonderry's  Instructions  impower- 

ing  him  to  receive  an  additional  salary  either  from  the  first  or 


36 


COLONIAL   PAPERS. 


1728. 


Feb.  15. 

St.  James's. 


Feb.  15. 

Williams- 
burgh. 


second  Assembly,  as  was  done  in  the  case  of  Governor  Hart, 
according  to  the  prayer  of  his  Lordship's  Memorial  etc.  Signed, 
Temple  Stanyan.  Endorsed,  Reed.,  27th  Feb.,  Read  5th  March, 
172f.  3^  pp.  [C.O.  152,  16.  ff.  153-154*;.,  1550.] 

52.  Order  of  King  in  Council.  Upon  report  of  the  Com- 
mittee that  owing  to  Mr.  Shute's  absence,  H.M.  sign  manual, 
April  10,  1727,  directing  him  to  recommend  to  the  Assemblies 
of  the  Massachusetts  Bay  and  New  Hampshire  the  settlement 
of  the  Governor's  salary,  had  not  been  communicated  to  the 
Assemblies,  H.M.  in  Council,  "  judging  it  highly  reasonable  and 
necessary,  that  a  due  provision  ought  to  be  made  for  the  support 
of  his  Governors  of  the  said  Provinces,  is  pleased  to  order  etc., 
that  the  Lords  Commissioners  for  Trade  and  Plantations  do 
insert  an  article  in  Mr.  Burnet's  Instructions  agreeable  to  the 
said  Sign  Manual  "  etc.  Cf.  A.P.C.  III.  pp.  105-107.  Signed, 
Temple  Stanyan.  Endorsed,  Reed.  19th,  Read  28th  Feb.,  172$. 
3  pp.  Enclosed, 

52.  i.  Copy  of  H.M.  letter  to  Governor  Shute,  10th  April, 

1727.     2f  pp.     [C.O.  5,  870.     ff.  49-50,  51-52*;.] 

53.  Lt.  Governor  Gooch  to  the  Council  of  Trade  and  Planta- 
tions.    Acknowledges  letter  of  5th  Oct.  received  since  his  last 
of  12th  Feb.     The  opinion  of  the  Attorney  and  Solicitor  General 
is  entered  in  the  proper  offices  as  ordered.     Encloses  following. 
Continues  : — In  order  to  its  being  presented  with  the  greater 
solemnity,  I  have  sent  the  original  to  Mr.  Leheup  our  Agent, 
directing  him  to  deliver  it  to  Micajah  Perry  Esq.  now  one  of  the 
members  of  Parliament  for  the  City  of  London,  that  it  may  be 
attended  by  the  Virginia  merchants.     I  shall  not  trouble  your 
Lordships  now  with  any  other  account  of  the  Assembly's  pro- 
ceedings which  hitherto  has  been  chiefly  employ'd  in  settling 
the  common  forms  necessary  at  the  beginning  of  a  new  session  ; 
only  beg  of  your  Lordships  to  consider  what  is  necessary  to  be 
be  done  with  our  neighbours  of  Maryland,  in  case  they  should 
not  be  willing  to  contribute  to  the  lighthouse  I  have  recom- 
mended as  absolutely  necessary  for  the  security  of  our  shipping  : 
for  I  can  get  no  answer   from   them  about  it,  notwithstanding 
it  will  be  of  much  more  usefulness  and  service  to  them,  than 
to   the  Virginia  ships  ;    for  at  present  we  can  go  to  sea  in  the 
night,  but  not  come  from  thence,  and  they  can  do  neither. 
I  hope  my  next  will  carry  such  a  relation  of  the  consultations 
of   our    Assembly,  as  will  be  agreable  to  your  Lordships  etc. 
Signed,    William   Gooch.     Endorsed,    Reed.    17th   April,    Read 
2nd  May,  1728.     Holograph.     1  p.     Enclosed, 

53.  i.  Address  of  the  Council  and  Burgesses  of  Virginia  to 
the  King.  Duplicate  of  No.  46  ii.  Endorsed,  Reed. 
17th  April,  1728.  Copy.  2  pp.  [C.O.  5,  1321, 
ff.  34,  S5v.-3Qv.,  37v.] 


AMERICA  AND   WEST  INDIES. 


37 


1728. 
Feb.  16. 

St.  James's. 


Feb.  16. 

Whitehall. 


Feb.  16. 

Whitehall. 


Feb.   16. 

St.  James's. 

Feb.  20. 

Whitehall. 


Feb.  20. 
Now 

Hampshire. 


54.  H.M.  Warrant  for  the  Bishop  of  London's  commission 
to   exercise   his   ecclesiastical   jurisdiction   in  the   Plantations. 
Countersigned,  Holies  Newcastle.     [C.O.  324,  36.     pp.  37-44.] 

55.  Council  of  Trade  and  Plantations  to  the    King.      Re- 
commend Col.  William  Randolph  for  the  Council  of  Virginia, 
in  place  of  Col.  Nath.  Harrison,  deed.     [C.O.  5,  1366.  p.  I.] 

56.  Mr.  Popple  to  Mr.  Fane.     Encloses,  for  his  opinion  in 
point  of  law,  8  Acts  of  New  Hampshire,  1724,  1726,  1727.     [C.O. 
5,  916.    pp.  59,  60.] 

57.  Copy  of  Governor  Burnet's  Commission,  New  Hamp- 
shire.    [C.O.  5,  194.    ff.  117-138.] 

58.  Mr.    Popple    to    Robert    Chester.     My    Lords    Com- 
missioners' observing  by  a  Minute,  21st  Oct.,  1726,  that  you 
desire  to   be   heard  against  Mr.   Carlisle's  being  appointed  a 
Councillor  of  Antigua,  will  be  ready  to  hear  you  on  Friday  etc. 
[C.O.  153,  14.     p.  312.] 

59.  Lt.  Governor  Wentworth  to  the  Council  of  Trade  and 
Plantations.     Begins  with   duplicate   of  8th   Aug.,    1727,    and 
encloses  duplicate  of  Journal  of  Assembly  and  Naval  Officer's 
accounts  to  Dec.  25,  1727.     Continues  : — There  has  been  more 
negroes  imported  this  last  year  then  in  ten  years  before.     I 
suppose   the   reason    is    that   in   the   Massachusets   they  pay 
an  impost  of  four  pounds   p.    head,  and  in  this  Province  they 
are  imported  free.     As  to  the  King's  woods  in  this  Province 
we  have  secured  them  pretty  well,  tho'  we  have  warrants  out 
after  two  or  three  impudent  fellows,  who  was   discovered    by 
one  of  our  under  servayors.     They  had  cutt  down  one  tree 
that  was  marked  with  the  broad  arro,  by  an  officer  ten  years 
past  of  a  considerable  bigness.      Except  they  flye  the  country 
we  shall  have  them  before  the  Judge  of  Admiralty.     This  has 
been  a  greate  year  for  snow  and  such  seasons  the  pine  trees  are 
greately  destroyed,  we  haveing  [?been]  pritty  seveer  with  the 
logers  in  this  Province  they  have  for  severill  years  last  past 
bought   common   rights  in  the  Province  of  Mayne  where  they 
have  don  greate  spoil  on  the  pine  trees  last  and  this  winter 
more  espetially,  Mr.  Armstrong,  the  Deputy  Servayor,  has  been 
up  in  the  Country  and  seized  considerable  parcills  of  logs,  no 
doubt  but  thousands  of  good  pine  trees  fitt  for  H.M.  Royall 
[?Navy]  distroyed  have  been  distroyed  in  that  Province  this 
season  and  Mr.  Armstrong  is  going  to  Boston  to  apply  himself  to 
the  Judge  of  the  Admiralty  for  advice  in  order  to  his  furder 
proceedings.     I  hope  your  Lordships  in  your  greate  wisdom 
will  let  H.M.  know  the  nessity  of  some  seveer  act  to  be  made, 
and  that  quickley  otherwise  it  will  be  toe  late.     A  few  years 


38 


COLONIAL   PAPERS. 


1728. 


Feb.  20. 

Whitehall. 


Feb.  20. 

Tuesday. 


will  let  your  Lordships  know  it,  as  I  have  many  times  taken 
the  liberty  in  many  letters  to  mention  if  H.M.  has  in  the 
Massachusets  Charter  received  the  pine  trees  as  a  royalty 
to  himself,  why  may  not  an  act  be  passed  that  all  pine  trees  in 
townships  as  well  as  without,  be  reserved  for  the  King's  servis 
without  regard  to  either,  but  wherever  found  they  should  be 
preserved  as  above,  the  people  in  the  Province  of  Mayne  haveing 
had  such  liberty  for  many  years,  that  all  pine  trees  within 
townships  might  be  cutt  for  mill  logs,  as  they  pleased  that  it 
will  requier  somthing  strong  to  breake  them  off  of  ye  right. 
With  greate  submition  I  speak  it,  that  the  Act  of  King  George 
the  first  relateing  to  pine  trees,  dos  not  fully  answer  the  end 
designed.  My  Lords,  those  letters  from  Mr.  Faine,  allso  that 
from  the  King's  Attorney  Generall  and  Sollicitor  Generall 
those  gentlemen  explination  of  that  Act  of  the  right  of  King 
George  the  first  they  pay  but  little  regard  to  it,  and  say  that 
the  Act  of  Parliamt.  is  what  they  have  to  trust  too.  I  shall 
do  everything  in  my  power  to  preserve  the  pine  trees  in  this 
Province,  and  as  for  the  Massachusets  I  can  only  advise  your 
Lordships  from  time  to  time  how  the  affair  of  the  woods  are 
carried  on.  I  am  in  greate  hopes  your  Lordships  have  been 
pleased  to  bring  on  the  setling  the  lines  between  the  two 
Governmts.  it  would  greately  tend  to  the  ease  and  quiet  of  this 
Province  and  very  much  contribute  to  the  peopeling  the  same. 
I  allso  hope  that  our  agent  Mr.  Newan  has  or  will  succeed  in  his 
prayer  (in  this  Provinces  name)  for  stores  for  H.M.  Fort  William 
and  Mary  at  Newcastle,  which  has  for  severill  years  been  sollicited 
for,  and  wee  are  as  yet  in  hopes  of  suceedeing,  tho'  it  be  long 
first,  that  Castle  is  and  will  bee  in  good  repair  in  another  year, 
and  then  to  have  no  Stores  in  it  the  fortification  will  be  of  little 
use,  and  the  inhabitance  has  been  so  impoverished  by  a  long 
Indian  war,  that  they  are  not  able,  as  have  heretofore  set  forth 
to  your  Lordships.  Signed,  Jno.  Wentworth.  Endorsed,  29th 
April,  1728,  Read  23rd  May,  1729.  Holograph.  3  pp.  [C.O. 
5,  870.  ff.  232-233*;.] 

60.  Mr.  Popple  to  Col.  Spotswood.    My  Lords  Commissioners 
desire  your  opinion  as  soon  as  may  be  what  methods  you  conceive 
will  most  effectually  conduce  to  the  production  of  Naval  Stores 
in  the  Plantations,  and  what  you  think  may  have  occasioned 
the  late  obstruction  of  the  increase  thereof  etc. 

A  like  letter  was  writ  to  Mr.  Joshua  Gee  and  Robert  Gary. 
[C.O.  324,  11.     p.  62.] 

61 .  Duke  of  Montagu  to  the  Council  of  Trade  and  Planta- 
tions.    Since  I  left  your  Lordships  I  have  considered  the  pro- 
posal I  made  to  you  in  relation  to  the  four  and  a  halfe  per  cent., 
and  as  I  beleive  it  may  meet  with  dificultys,  therefore,  If  the 
planters  may  be  exempted  from  paying  it  for  the  first  ten  years, 


AMERICA   AND    WEST   INDIES. 


1728. 


I  am  willing  that  after  that  it  shoud  go  to  the  Crown,  without 
mentioning  any  consideration  to  be  made  me  for  what  I  may 
expend  in  makeing  of  fortifications,  in  your  Lordships'  report. 
Signed,  Montagu.  Endorsed,  Reed.  Read  20th  Feb.,  172;. 
Holograph.  1  p.  [C.O.  28,  19.  ff.  99, 


Feb.  21. 


[Feb.  21. 


62.  Col.  Hart  to  Mr.  Popple.     I  have  advice  from  Antegoa 
of  the  death  of  Thomas  Morris,  etc.     Reminds  him  that  Francis 
Carlisle,  whom   he    formerly  recommended,  is  minuted  for  the 
first  vacancy  in  the  Council  there.     Signed,  Jo.  Hart.     Endorsed, 
Reed.     Read  21st  Feb.,   172  J.     Holograph.     1  p.     [C.O.    152, 
16.    ff.  141,  142z;.] 

63.  Petition    of    Edward    Byam,    merchant    of    London, 
Recommends   Mr.    Carlile    as    preceding.     Hearing  there   is   a 
caveat  entered  against  him,  prays  for  a  day  for  the   considera- 
tion  thereof.     Endorsed   as  preceding.     1   p.     [C.O.    152,    16. 
ff.    143, 


Feb.  21.  64.  Mr.  Popple  to  Mr.  Carkesse.  My  Lords  Commissioners 
Whitehall,  being  informed  that  a  box  directed  to  their  Lordships  has 
remain'd  in  the  Custom  Warehouse  ever  since  the  17th  of  Jan. 
1725,  they  desire  that  the  same  may  be  delivered  to  the  bearer, 
and  that  if  any  box  or  packet  directed  to  them  should  for  the 
future  be  delivered  into  the  custody  of  your  Officers,  they  may 
be  immediately  acquainted  therewith  etc.  [C.O.  324,  11.  pp. 
62,  63.] 


Feb.  24. 

London. 


65.  Col.  Hart  to  Mr.  Popple.  Refers  to  his  letter  of  6th  Aug. 
1725  relating  to  the  complaint  of  M.  Garret  of  Guadeloupe  that 
one  Molineux  of  Montserrat  had  detained  14  negroes  of  his, 
who  had  run  away.  Continues : — Lt.  Govr.  George  returned 
me  answer,  that  he  was  informed,  but  could  not  prove,  the 
negroes  were  in  the  possession  of  Mr.  Molineux  etc.  The 
Attorney  and  Solicitor  General  of  the  Leeward  Islands  advis'd 
me  that  I  had  no  power,  as  Governor,  to  take  them  out  of 
the  hands  of  Molineux  :  but  that  Mr.  Garret  had  his  remedy 
at  law  ;  and  in  that  course  might  very  easily  recover  them. 
Governor  George  further  informed  me  that  the  said  Mr.  Molineux 
had  a  much  greater  number  of  negroes  run  from  him  to  the 
Island  of  Marygalante  :  and  that  he  had  applyed  himself  to, 
and  obtain'd  a  letter  from  Mr.  Hamilton,  late  Governor  of  the 
Leeward  Islands,  to  the  Governor  of  Marygalante  desiring  he 
might  be  restord  to  the  said  negroes  :  and  that  Mr.  Molineux 
did  personally  apply  to  the  Governor  of  Marygalante  for  that 
end,  without  redress  ;  though  Mr.  Molineux  saw  his  negroes 
in  the  possession  of  some  of  the  inhabitants  of  that  Island. 

I  must  desire  that  you  will  mention  to  their  Lordships  :  that 
notwithstanding  it  is  stipulated  by  the  Treaty  of  Utrecht, 


COLONIAL   PAPERS. 


1728. 

that  the  damages  done  to  the  inhabitants  of  Mountserrat  by  the 

French  under  the  command  of  Monsieur  Cossart  in  July,  1712, 

should  be  adjusted  by  Commissaries  of  each  nation,  yet  from 

that  time  to  this  the  poor  sufferers  have  receivd  no  releif ; 

which  amounts  to  the  sume  of  £204,406  0*.  lOd.  as  will  appear 

by  the  inclosed  list  of  their  losses,  which  I  desire  you  will  lay 

before  their  Lordships,  to  take  such  measures  as  their  Lordships 

may  judge  proper  to  the  occasion.     Signed,  Jo.  Hart.     Endorsed, 

Reed.  Read  29th  Feb.,  172|.     Holograph.     2£  pp.     Enclosed, 

65.  i.  Account  of  the  losses  given  in  upon  oath  by  the  severall 

inhabitants  [of  Mountserrat]  sustained  by  the  attack 

made  by  the  French  under  the  command  of  Monsr. 

Cassart  in  the  year  1712. 

Names  and  Losses  of  271  claimants.     Damages  claimed  for 
the  (i)  Leeward  Division,   £172,874   15s.   3|d. 
(ii)  Northward  Division,  £17,939  5*.  8%d. 
(iii)  Windward  Division,  £10,027. 
(iv)  White   River  Division,  £3,565  9s.  Id. 
Certified  by  the  President  and  Council,  Nov.  1719,  as  a  true 
copy  of  the  accounts  of  the  losses  sustained  by  the 
inhabitants  by  the  said  invasion,  brought  in  and  sworn 
to  in  pursuance  of  the  order  of  the  Government  "  that 
all  persons  that  were  sufferers  by  the  said  invasion 
should  bring  in  and  attest  upon  oath  before  certain 
Magistrates    by    the    said    Government    appoynted." 
Endorsed    as   preceding.     Copy.     6f   pp.     [C.O.    152, 
16.    ff.  145-151.] 

Feb.  26.        66.     Order    of   King   in    Council.     Approving    draughts    of 
St.  James's.  Instructions  for  Governor  the  Earl  of  Orkney.     Signed,  Temple 

Stanyan.     Endorsed,    Reed.    29th,    Read    30th    April,     1728. 

l^pp.     [C.O.  5,  1321.    ff.  18,  I8v.,  19v.] 

Feb.  26.         67.     Order  of  King  in   Council.     Appointing  Col.   William 
st.  James's.  Randolph  to  the  Council  of  Virginia  in  the  room  of  Col.  Nathaniel 

Harrison,    deed.     Signed  and  endorsed  as  preceding.     1^  pp. 

[C.O.  5,  1321.     ff.  20,  20v.,  21v.] 

Feb.  27.        68.     Council  of  Trade  and  Plantations  to  the  Duke  of  New- 
Whitehaii.    castle.     In  obedience  to  H.M.  commands,   23rd  Jan.,  enclose 
following  to  be  laid  before  H.M.     Autograph  signatures.     1  p. 
Enclosed, 

68.  i.  Same  to  the  King.  Representation  upon  the  petition 
of  the  Duke  of  Montagu.  Tobago  is  one  of  your 
Majesty's  Windward  Charibbee  Islands,  which  alltho' 
it  be  comprehended  in  the  Commission  of  your 
Majesty's  Governor  of  Barbados,  has  never  been 
settled,  and  produces  no  revenue  to  the  Crown,  nor 
is  of  any  advantage  to  this  Kingdom.  It  would 


AMERICA  AND   WEST  INDIES.  41 

1728. 

therefore  undoubtedly  be  for  your  Majesty's  service, 
that  the  same  should  be  effectually  settled  and  planted  ; 
for  which  reason  as  well  as  for  those  set  forth  in  the 
Duke  of  Montagu's  petition,  we  are  humbly  of  opinion, 
that  in  consideration  of  the  surrender  of  the  aforesaid 
patent  for  Sta.  Lucia  and  St.  Vincents,  your  Majesty 
may  be  graciously  pleased  to  grant  the  Island  of  Tobago 
to  the  Duke  of  Montagu,  upon  the  same  terms  with 
those  contained  in  the  patent  for  Sta.  Lucia  and  St. 
Vincents,  except  only  in  the  particulars  upon  which 
we  shall  humbly  take  leave  to  make  the  following 
observations  ;  As  we  have  found  by  experience  that 
all  Proprietary  Colonies,  where  the  Government  is  not 
in  the  Crown,  are  highly  detrimental  to  your  Majesty's 
service,  and  to  the  welfare  of  Great  Britain  ;  in  case 
your  Majesty  should  be  pleased  to  grant  the  island 
of  Tobago  to  the  Duke  of  Montagu,  it  will  be  requisite 
that  particular  care  be  taken  to  reserve  to  your 
Majesty,  and  to  your  heirs  and  successors,  the  absolute 
sovereignty,  dominion,  and  government,  of  Tobago, 
in  as  full  and  ample  manner  as  your  Majesty  does  now 
or  may  exercise  the  same  in  your  Island  of  Barbados. 
By  the  aforesaid  patent,  not  only  the  office  of  Captain 
General  and  Governor  in  Chief  is  granted  to  his  Grace, 
and  his  heirs  for  ever,  with  power  to  appoint  a  Deputy- 
Governor,  subject  to  the  approbation  of  your  Majesty, 
but  likewise  the  power  of  exercising  several  authorities, 
which  have  ever  been  esteemed  part  of  the  Royal 
prerogative,  and  which,  according  to  our  humble 
opinion,  ought  not  to  be  inserted  in  the  grant  now 
petitioned  for  ;  But  we  conceive,  it  may  be  for  your 
Majesty's  service,  that  his  Grace  should  be  appointed 
Captain  General  and  Governor  during  his  life,  with 
the  usual  powers,  and  authorities,  granted  by  Com- 
mission and  Instructions  to  your  Majesty's  Governors 
of  Barbados  ;  and  that  the  Deputy  Governor  be  from 
time  to  time  named  by  his  Grace,  and  approv'd  by 
your  Majesty,  and  that  he  may  be  removed  either  by 
your  Majesty,  or  by  his  Grace  at  pleasure.  The  Duke 
of  Montagu  proposes,  that  the  planters  in  Tobago 
may  be  exempted  from  paying  the  duty  of  4|  p.  cent, 
on  the  exportation  of  the  product  of  that  Island,  for 
the  space  of  ten  years  from  the  date  of  the  grant,  as 
an  incouragement  to  all  new  settlers  ;  and  in  con- 
sideration thereof,  his  Grace  is  willing  that  after  the 
expiration  of  the  time  limited  for  his  Government,  all 
fortifications  made  there,  shall  be  absolutely  vested 
in  your  Majesty,  without  paying  anything  for  the 
same,  and  we  are  humbly  of  opinion,  it  may  be  for  your 


42  COLONIAL   PAPERS. 

1728. 


Majesty's  service  to  indulge  the  Duke  of  Montagu  in 
this  proposal.  By  the  words  of  the  Duke  of  Montagu's 
grant  for  Sta.  Lucia,  the  right  of  fishing  within  the 
distance  of  twenty  miles  from  the  shoar  is  absolutely 
given  to  his  Grace  ;  But  we  would  humbly  propose 
that  the  inhabitants  of  Barbados  and  all  other  your 
Majesty's  subjects  may  be  allow'd  the  liberty  of  fishing 
anywhere  in  the  seas  contiguous  to  Tobago,  reserving 
only  to  the  Duke  of  Montagu  and  to  his  heirs,  the 
exclusive  right  of  fishing  and  of  all  other  accidental 
profits  accruing  within  low-water  mark,  as  hath  been 
usual  in  several  grants  to  Lords  of  Manors,  in  this 
Kingdom.  In  his  Grace's  grant  of  Sta.  Lucia,  the 
laws  of  England  relating  to  property  in  lands,  goods, 
chatles,  and  estates,  or  relating  to  criminal  matters 
are  to  be,  and  continue  in  force  untill  they  be  legally 
alter'd  by  laws  to  be  made  in  that  Island  ;  But  as  so 
general  a  liberty  may  be  attended  with  some  incon- 
venience, we  think  it  will  be  adviseable,  that  the  laws 
of  England  to  be  put  in  force  in  Tobago,  should  be 
upon  the  same  foundation,  and  only  such,  as  have 
been  heretofore  used  in  Barbados.  By  another  clause 
in  the  said  grant  the  Duke  or  his  Deputie  are  authoriz'd 
to  appoint  twelve  Councillors,  with  the  full  power  to 
make  ordinances  for  the  defence,  improvement,  and 
good  Government  of  the  Island,  till  an  Assembly  can 
be  settled  ;  and  we  have  no  objection  to  his  Grace's 
appointing  the  first  twelve  Councillors  in  Tobago ; 
but  we  are  humbly  of  opinion,  that  all  future  Councillors 
of  this  Island,  should,  like  those  in  your  Majesty's 
other  Plantations,  be  appointed  by  your  Majesty. 

By  a  clause  in  the  grant  of  Sta.  Lucia  and  St.  Vin- 
cents to  his  Grace,  power  is  given  to  the  General 
Assembly  of  the  said  Islands  to  make  laws  ;  provided 
they  be,  as  near  as  may  be,  consonant  to  the  laws  and 
statutes  of  this  Kingdom,  and  provided  that  a  transcript 
thereof  be  within  twelve  months,  or  sooner  after  the 
making  of  such  laws,  transmitted  under  the  seal  of 
the  Governor,  or  Deputy  Governor,  to  your  Majesty 
for  your  Royal  approbation  or  disallowance.  But 
as  in  all  your  Majesty's  other  Governments  in  America, 
the  Governors  are  directed  by  their  Instructions  to 
transmit  copies  of  such  laws  as  shall  be  there  pass'd, 
to  your  Majesty  within  three  months,  or  by  the  first 
oppertunity  of  conveyance  after  their  being  enacted  ; 
it  is  humbly  proposed  that  his  Grace  be  under  the  same 
restriction  in  this  particular  as  the  Governors  of  Bar- 
bados. [C.O.  29,  14.  pp.  433-438 ;  and  (covering 
letter  only]  285,  2.  No.  5.] 


AMERICA  AND   WEST   INDIES.  43 


1728. 

Feb.  27.  69.  Council  of  Trade  and  Plantations  to  the  King.  Repre- 
.  sentation  upon  Act  of  St.  Christophers  against  covenous  and 
fraudulent  conveyances  etc.  Mr.  Smith,  Secretary  of  the  Lee- 
ward Islands,  alledges  deeds  and  mortgages  have  for  many 
years  past  been  frequently  registered  or  inrolled  in  the  Secre- 
tary's office  of  that  island,  and  certain  establish'd  fees  paid  to 
the  Secretary  for  the  same,  which  fees  will  be  lost  to  him,  in 
case  this  Act  should  take  effect :  as  to  the  Act  in  general,  he  has 
no  objection,  but  insists  that  by  virtue  of  his  present  office,  he 
ought  to  have  been  appointed  the  Register  in  this  Act,  and 
conceives  that  the  appointment  of  an  officer  for  this  purpose 
should  have  been  left  to  the  Crown  ;  he  likewise  observes  that 
the  fees  taken  in  his  office  for  entring  of  deeds,  are  much  less 
than  those  appointed  by  this  Act.  In  support  of  the  Act  it  was 
alledged,  that  the  office  of  Register  of  any  kind,  is  not  granted 
by  express  words  in  his  late  Majesty's  patent  to  Mr.  Smith,  and 
altho'  he  and  his  predecessors  have  casually  injoy'd  a  benefit 
from  the  involuntary  inrollment  or  registering  of  deeds  and 
mortgages  in  the  Secretary's  office  there,  yet  it  did  by  no  means 
follow  from  thence  that  the  Legislature  of  St.  Christophers 
should  be  debarr'd  from  erecting  a  Registrar's  Office  by  Act  of 
Assembly,  for  quite  different  purposes  than  those  for  which 
deeds  were  inrolled  in  the  Secretary's  Office  ;  and  as  the  profit 
arising  to  him  therein  was  accidental  and  inconsiderable,  the 
loss  would  be  accidental  likewise,  and  could  not  be  look'd  upon 
as  an  injustice.  As  to  the  appointment  of  an  Officer,  they 
observed,  that  this  Act  could  have  no  effect  till  your  Majesty's 
pleasure  should  be  declared  thereupon,  tho'  they  conceiv'd 
the  Crown  had  already  decided  this  point  in  the  case  of  the 
Register's  Act  passed  in  1698,  and  approved  by  the  Crown  in 
1700,  where  the  appointment  of  an  officer  for  that  purpose  is 
made  in  the  same  terms  with  those  of  the  present  Act.  It  was 
likewise  further  alledged  in  behalf  of  the  Act,  that  the  aforesaid 
law  of  Antigua  has  proved  a  great  advantage  to  that  Island  ; 
that  the  example  of  Antigua  had  induced  the  Legislature  of  St. 
Christophers  to  think  of  passing  a  law  of  like  nature,  and  many 
attempts  had  been  made  at  different  times,  for  that  purpose, 
which  had  proved  fruitless,  by  reason  of  disputes  between  the 
Council  and  Assembly  upon  the  nomination  of  a  Register ; 
and  if  the  present  Act  should  miscarry,  it  was  to  be  apprehended 
the  like  disputes  might  again  arise,  and  deprive  the  island  of  the 
benefit  of  so  advantagious  a  law  etc.  Finding  that  the  main 
objection  to  this  Act,  is  the  loss  of  a  casual  profit  to  the 
Secretary's  office,  we  are  humbly  of  opinion  that  the  same  ought 
not  to  stand  in  competiton  with  so  great  and  general  a  good  as 
in  all  probability  will  result  to  the  inhabitants  and  commerce 
of  St.  Christophers  from  this  Act.  Propose  H.M.  approbation 
etc.  [C.O.  153,  14.  pp.  313-316.] 


44 


COLONIAL   PAPERS. 


1728. 
Feb.  27. 

Whitehall. 


Feb.  28. 

Whitehall. 


Feb.  28. 

London. 


Feb.  29. 

St.  James's. 


Feb.  29. 

St.  James's. 


Feb.  29. 

St.  James's. 


70.  Mr.    Popple    to    Sir    William    Codrington.     Observing 
that  you  have  been  long  absent  from  the  Council  of  Antego  etc. 
my  Lords  Commissioners  desire  you  will  let  them  know,  as 
soon  as  possible,  whether  and  when  you  intend  to  return  etc. 
[C.O.  153,  14.     p.  312.] 

71 .  Mr.  Popple  to  Lt.  Governor  Wentworth.     Acknowledges 
letters  etc.  of  7th  Aug.  and  25th  Sept.     Continues  :   As  to  what 
you  wrote  with  respect  to  the  waste  committed  in  the  King's 
woods  etc.,  their  Lordships  having  that  matter  now  under  their 
consideration,  proper   care  will  be  forthwith   taken  to  prevent 
the  same  for  the  future.     My  Lords  observe  that  you  attribute 
(7th  Aug.)  the  trade  of  New  Hampshire  being  at  a  stand,  partly 
to  the  war  with  Spain,  and  partly  to  the  want,  you  say,  you  are 
in,  of  a  greater  currency  in  paper  money  etc.     My  Lords  are  of 
opinion,  the  first  of  these  reasons,  is  the  real  cause  of  the  stag- 
nation of  trade  ;    for  could  the  200,000  quintals  of  fish,  wch. 
you  say,  now  remain  in  the  country,  for  want  of  the  usual 
number  of  ships  to  export  the  same,  be  dispos'd  of,  it  would 
give  a  greater   life  to  the  trade  of  New  Hampshire,  than  the 
creating  £300,000  in  bills  of  credit,  as  you  propose.     [C.O.  5, 
916.     p.  61.] 

72.  Robert  Cary  to  Mr.  Popple.     Reply  to  20th  Feb.     The 
merchants    tradeing  to  Virginia,   Carolina  and  New  England 
had  a  meeting  last  night  to  consider  the  necessary  relateing 
to  the  production  of  navall  stores  in  ye  Plantations,  desired 
that  I  would  acquaint  you  that  ye  last  time  they  attended 
your  Lords  for  Trade,  [they  informed  them  ?]  that  ye  pitch  and 
tarr  trade  must  of  necessity  be  laid  aside  if  a  bounty  of  7s.  6d. 
could  not  be  obtained  for  the  encouragement  of  importation, 
which  if  granted  the  trade   will  revive  again  and  ye   Navy 
plentifully  supplyed  as  to  hemp  and  iron  we  refer  you  to  Col. 
Spotswood.     Signed,    Robert    Cary.      Endorsed,    Reed.     Read 
28th  Feb.,  172|.     \p.     [C.O.  323,  8.     No.  84.] 

73.  H.M.  warrant  for  re-appointment  of  George   Clarke  as 
Secretary  of  New  York,  "  during  Our  pleasure  and  his  residence." 
Countersigned,  Holies  Newcastle.     [C.O.  324,  36.    p.  25  ;    and 
324,  50.     pp.  64,  65.] 

74.  H.M.  warrant  for  re-appointment  of   John  Henderson 
as  Attorney  General  of  Jamaica,  "  to  execute  the  said  office  in 
his  own  person  except  in  case  of  sickness  or  other  incapacity." 
Countersigned,  Holies  Newcastle.     [C.O.  324,  36.     p.  26.] 

75.  H.M.  warrant  for  re-appointment  of  Thomas  Windham 
as   Register  of  Chancery   Court  and   Patent  in   Jamaica.     A 
clause  to  be  inserted  obliging  him  to  residence.     Countersigned, 
Holies  Newcastle.     [C.O.  324,  36.     p.  27  ;   and  324,  50.     p.  2.] 


AMERICA   AND   WEST   INDIES. 


45 


1728. 
Feb.  29. 

St.  James's. 


76.  H.M.  warrant  for  re-appointment  of  Josiah  Willard  as 
Secretary  of  the  Massachusetts  Bay,  "  during  Our  pleasure  and 
his  residence."  Countersigned,  Holies  Newcastle.  [C.O.  324, 
36.  p.  28  ;  and  324,  50.  pp.  53,  54.] 


Feb.  29.         77.     H.M.  warrant  for  re-appointment  of   John  Floyer  as 
St.  James's.    Clerk  of  the  Navy  Office  in  the  Leeward  Islands,  to  act  by  himself 

or  Deputy.     Countersigned,  Holies  Newcastle.     [C.O.  324,  36. 

pp.  29,  30  ;    and  324,  50.     pp.  36,  37.] 

Feb.  29.         78.     H.M.  warrant  for  re-appointment  of  Alexander  Hender- 

st.  James's,  son  as  Attorney  General  of  Jamaica,  "  to  execute  the  said  office 

in  his  own  person  except  in  case  of  sickness  or  other  incapacity." 

Countersigned,  Holies  Newcastle.     [C.O.  324,  36.     pp.  31,  32  ; 

and  324,  50.  p.  I.] 

Feb.  29.        79.     H.M.  warrant  for  re-appointment  of  Jonathan  Blenman 
St.  James's,    as  Attorney  General  of  Barbados,   with  proviso  as  preceding. 

Countersigned,  Holies  Newcastle.     [C.O.  324,  36.     pp.  32,  33  ; 

and  324,  50.     pp.  21,  22.] 


Feb.  29. 

St.  James's. 


80.  H.M.  warrant  for  re-appointment  of  Richard  Bradley 
as  Attorney  General  of  New  York,  "  during  Our  pleasure  and 
his  residence."  Countersigned,  Holies  Newcastle.  [C.O.  324, 
36.  pp.  34,  35  ;  and  324,  50.  pp.  66,  67.] 


Feb.  29.        81.     H.M.  warrant  for  re-appointment  of   James  Smith  as 

st.  James's.    Secretary  of  New  Jersey,  with  proviso  obliging  him  to  residence 

and   not   to   be   absent   without   H.M.   leave.      Countersigned, 

Holies  Newcastle.     [C.O.  324,  36.     pp.  48,  49  ;    and  324,  50. 

pp.  73,  74.] 


Feb.  29. 

St.  James's. 


82.  H.M.  warrant  for  re-appointment  of  John  Clayton  as 
Attorney  General  of  Virginia  "  during  Our  pleasure  and  his 
residence."  Countersigned,  Holies  Newcastle.  [C.O.  324,  36. 
pp.  49,  50  ;  and  324,  50.  pp.  81,  82.] 


Feb.  29.        83.     H.M.  warrant  for  re-appointment  of  George  Tucker   as 
St.  James's.    Provost  Marshal  of  Bermuda,  "  during  Our  pleasure,  and  his 

residence."     Countersigned,   Holies   Newcastle.     [C.O.   324,   36. 

pp.  51,  52  ;    and  324,  50.     pp.  46,  47.] 


Feb.  29.        84.     H.M.  warrant  for  re-appointment  of  Alexander  Burnet 
st.  James's,   as  Clerk  of  the  Markets  in  Barbados,  "  during  Our  pleasure." 

Countersigned,  Holies  Newcastle.     [C.O.  324,  36.     pp.  52,  53  ; 

and  324,  50.     pp.  22,  23.] 


46 


COLONIAL   PAPERS. 


1728. 
Feb.  29. 

St.  James's. 


Feb.  29. 

St.  James's. 


Feb.  29. 

St.  James's. 


Feb.  29. 

St.  James  V. 


[Feb.  ?] 


Feb.  29. 

St.  James's. 


Feb.  29. 

St.  James's. 


March  [2]. 

London. 


85.  H.M.    warrant  for  re-appointment  of  Devereux  Bacon 
as  Naval  Officer  at  Piscataway,  with  a  proviso  for  his  residence 
etc.     Countersigned,  Holies  Newcastle.     [C.O.  324,  36.     pp.  62, 
63  ;    and  324,  50.     pp.  54,  55] 

86.  H.M.    warrant   for    re-appointment    of    Lewis    Morris 
as  Chief  Justice  of  New  York,  "  during  Our  pleasure  and  his 
residence."     Countersigned,   Holies  Newcastle.     [C.O.   324,   36. 
pp.  104,  105  ;    and  324,  50.     pp.  67,  68.] 

87.  H.M.  warrant  for  re-appointing  Robert  Lettice  Hooper 
Chief  Justice  of  New  Jersey,   "  during  Our  pleasure  and  his 
residence."     Printed,  N.J.  Arch.  1st  Ser.  V.  185.     [C.O.  324, 
36.     pp.  106,  107  ;   and  324,  50.     pp.  75,  76.] 

88.  H.M.    Commission  appointing  Philip  Livingstone  Town 
Clerk,  Clerk  of  the  Peace  and  Clerk  of  the  Common  Pleas  in  the 
County  and  City  of  Albany,  N.Y.,  and  Secretary  or  Agent  for 
the  Government  to  the  Indians  in  those  parts  with  the  salary  of 
£100  sterling  to  be  paid  out  of  H.M.  Revenue  etc.    Countersigned, 
Holies   Newcastle.     Set   out,    N.Y.    Hist   Soc.    Publ.    II.    509. 
[C.O.  324,  36.     pp.  114,  115  ;   and  324,  50.     pp.  69,  70.] 

89.  Draft  of  letter  from  [?  Duke  of  Newcastle]    to    Mr. 
Attorney  General.     Encloses  petition  of  Duke  of  Montagu  for 
grant  of  Tobago,  (v.  23rd  Jan.)  and  representation  of  Council  of 
Trade  (v.  27th  Feb.).      Concludes :    H.M.  would  have  you  con- 
sider this  matter  and  prepare  such  a  draught  of  a  grant  as  you 
shall  think  fit  proper  "  etc.     Without  date  or  signature. 

In  Mr.  Delafaye's  hand,     f  p.     [C.O.  285,  2.     No,  6.] 

90.  Order  of  King  in  Council.     Referring  to  Committee  of 
Council  representation  of  27th  upon  Act  of  St.  Kitts  against 
covenous    and   fraudulent    conveyances    etc.       Signed,    Temple 
Stanyan.     Endorsed,  Reed.  29th,  Read  30th  April,  1728.     1  p. 
[C.O.  152,  16.     ff.  324,  8250.] 

91 .  Order  of  King  in  Council.     Referring  to  Committee  of 
Council  petition  of  Wavell  Smith  and  Savile  Cust  against  an 
Act  of  St.  Kitts  for  erecting  a  new  office  for  registering  deeds,  wills 
and    conveyances.     Signed    and    endorsed    as   preceding.     1    p. 
[C.O.  152,  16.    ff.  326,  327  v.] 

92.  Sir  William  Codrington  to  Mr.   Popple.     In  reply  to 
enquiry,  states  that  he  intends  to  return  to  Antigua.     "  I  have 
waited  onely  to  have  some  appeales  sent  me  from  thence  and 
Barbados.     I  have  one  now  that  lies  before  the  Council  for  ten 
or    twelve    thousand    £s    and    expect    one     from    Barbados 
and  two  more  from  Antigoa  for  considerable  sums,  wch.  I 


AMERICA   AND   WEST   INDIES. 


47 


1728. 

in  hope  to  have  had  over  before  this,  but  ye  Lt.  Generall 
Mathewes  will  not  heare  any  causes  untill  my  Lord  Londonderry 
arrives,  therefore  I  intreat  their  Ldsps.  will  be  so  good  as  to 
grant  me  leave  for  two  yeares  longer "  etc.  Signed,  W. 
Codrington.  Endorsed,  Reed.  2nd,  Read  5th  March,  172$. 
Holograph.  2  pp.  [C.O.  152,  16.  //.  156,  157,  157z;.] 

March  4.       93.     Mr.  Shute  to  Mr.  Popple.     In  reply  to  enquiry,  recom- 

st.  James's,    mends  Samuel  Penhallow  jr.  and  -  -  Atkison  to  supply  two 

vacancies  in  the  Council  of  New  Hampshire  caused  by  the  death 

of   S.    Penhallow    sr.    and   George  Vaughan.     Signed,  Samuel 

Shute.    Endorsed,  Reed.  Read  5th  March,  172|.    1  p.    Enclosed, 

93.  i.  List  of  Councillors  of  N.H.  and  persons  recommended 

to  fill  vacancies.     1  p.     [C.O.  5,  870.    ff.  53,  54,  5Qv.] 

March  4.  94.  Col.  Spotswood  to  the  Council  of  Trade  and  Plantations. 
London.  cj-  20th  Feb.  Abstract.  Hopes  he  has  not  been  too  particular 
in  displaying  the  discouragements,  which  he  knows  to  have 
put  a  stop  to  the  raising  naval  stores  in  Virginia.  As  the  person 
who  raised  and  imported  the  hemp  which  the  Lords  of  the 
Admiralty  observe  to  be  as  good  as  the  best  Riga  (v.  15th  Feb.), 
it  behoved  him  to  account  for  his  giving  over  that  manufacture, 
and  losing  the  stock  of  proper  seed,  which  he  had  with  great 
industry  propagated  etc.  Continues  :  From  my  first  residence 
in  America,  I  fell  into  the  way  of  thinking,  how  the  British 
Plantations  might  be  made  stil  much  more  useful  to  their 
Mother-country  etc.,  by  supplying  her  with  all  kinds  of  naval 
stores,  and  rescuing  her  from  precarious  dependance  on  the 
Northern  Crowns  etc.  For  it  was  with  no  small  concern  that, 
in  my  passage  to  Virginia,  in  1710,  I  observed  in  each  of  our 
men  of  war,  two  Muscovites  walking  the  quarter  deck,  to  learn 
our  art  of  navigation  ;  and  understood  that  this  privilege  was 
allowed  them  for  the  sake  of  the  hemp,  which  we  were 
necessitated  to  bring  from  their  Prince's  country.  Nor  was  it 
a  more  agreeable  reflection,  how  in  the  beginning  of  the  last 
war,  we  were  forced  to  court  the  Sweed  to  let  us  have  tar  to 
fit  out  our  Fleet.  And  how  did  our  want  of  iron,  from  the 
same  Nation,  make  us  bear  with  all  those  injuries  and  insults 
which  were  committed  in  1717  upon  our  ships  in  the  Baltick  ? 
These  considerations,  together  with  His  late  Majesty's  Speech 
to  the  Parliament,  for  promoting  naval  stores  in  our  own  Plan- 
tations animated  me  to  try  whether  our  aforesaid  wants  of  hemp, 
tar  and  iron  could  not  be  produced  in  Virginia  etc.  May 
challenge  the  Nation  to  shew  the  man,  who  has  embarked  so 
extensively  as  himself  in  the  undertaking,  or  pursued  it  with 
more  zeal  for  his  country's  service  etc.  Continues  :  I  not  only 
ingaged  as  many  of  the  inhabitants  as  I  could  persuade  etc.,  to 
enter  upon  raising  the  said  stores,  but  I  also  joyned  myself,  for 
example  sake,  in  partnership  with  several  persons  of  substance, 


48  COLONIAL   PAPERS. 

1728. 

to  lead  or  carry  on  the  design  :  and  for  that  purpose  we  took  up, 
after  the  usual  manner  of  Virginia,  55,000  acres  of  the  Crown's 
desart  and  ungranted  lands  ;  whereof  one  tract  of  40,000  acres, 
having  some  very  rich  grounds,  mixt  with  a  great  deale  of 
piney  lands,  we  appropriated  to  the  production  of  hemp,  tar 
and  pitch  ;  and  the  other  tract  of  15,000  acres  having  abundance 
of  good  iron  oar,  was  set  apart  for  the  iron  project.  Then  to 
seat  and  settle  these  lands,  and  to  carry  on  our  works,  we  built 
upwards  of  fourscore  houses,  and  imported  above  300  persons 
and  particularly  the  hemp  and  tar  tract  we  seated  with  30 
plantations  of  German  tennants,  consisting  of  above  100  people, 
whose  charges  of  importation  into  the  country  we  mostly 
defray'd,  and  provided  them  with  houses,  working  tools,  cattle, 
and  all  necessaries  to  make  their  new  settlements  etc.,  allowing 
them  5  years  to  reimburse  us  our  bare  expences  on  their  account, 
without  paying  any  interest  for  that  time,  or  any  rent  for  the 
first  three  years  ;  and  thereafter  their  annual  rent,  for  the  land 
they  held  of  us,  was  to  be  so  moderate,  as  one  pound  weight  of 
hemp,  or  flax,  for  each  acre.  Besides  I  had,  of  my  own  separate 
property,  a  very  considerable  plantation,  stocked  with  some 
of  the  best  of  my  negroes,  and  managed  by  a  skilful  and  long 
experienced  Englishman  ;  who  contracted  for  himself  and  his 
sons  to  instruct  in  the  art  and  mystery  of  raising  hemp  and 
flax,  all  such  servants  and  slaves,  as  I  should  place  under  their 
direction  :  and  as  we  engaged  to  push  on  the  said  concern  wth. 
vigour,  I  spared  no  cost  in  providing  all  the  needfull  houses, 
machines  and  materials,  and  in  procuring  seed  from  England, 
Riga  and  other  parts.  But  experience  shewed  us  that  no  seed 
answered  so  well,  as  a  certain  wild,  or  accidental  seed,  wch. 
we  found  in  the  country,  and  which  I  therefore  was  very  careful 
to  propagate,  as  well  as  ready  to  supply  my  neighbours  with. 
For  I  perceived  people  in  Virginia  were  discouraged  from  pro- 
ceeding on  hemp,  by  the  ill-success  they  had  in  raising  it  from 
the  seed :  some  having  been  disapointed  by  being  furnished 
from  England  with  bad  seed ;  others  by  sowing  old  seed 
(without  knowing  that  hemp  seed  generally  sprouts  in  the  first 
spring,  altho'  not  put  in  the  ground  ;  and  seed  once  sprouted, 
before  sown,  will  produce  nothing),  and  all  adventurers  in 
general  failed,  by  not  making  a  due  observation,  how  the  seed 
and  grain,  of  the  growth  of  the  Northern  parts  of  Europe,  ripen 
a  month  sooner  in  our  America,  and  that  the  hemp  runs  too 
hastily  to  seed,  before  the  stalk  grows  to  any  considerable 
length.  Whether  that  property  may  not  be  altered  by  often 
sowing,  I  am  not  certain  ;  but  this  I  know,  that  I  sowed  it  for 
two  years,  without  any  visible  amendment :  and  that  hemp, 
which  I  sent  home,  and  proved  after  various  tryals  in  Woolwich 
Yard  to  be  considerably  superiour  to  the  best  Russia,  and  equal 
in  strength  to  the  best  Riga  hemp,  was  made  from  the  above- 
mentioned  wild  seed,  As  to  the  tar  concern,  an  house  built 


AMERICA   AND   WEST   INDIES.  49 

1728. 

amidst  the  pine  woods,  and  tar  burners  set  to  work  ;  who  made 
tar,  which  was  found  to  be  far  better  than  what  was  commonly 
made  in  the  low  lands  of  Virginia  and  Carolina.  But  whether 
this  excelling  quality  was  owing  to  ours  having  been  produced 
from  the  upland  pines  ;  or  that  we  hapened  to  let  our  tar  lye 
mellowing  a  long  while  in  open  pits  without  barrelling  it  up, 
with  it's  fiery  quality  for  immediate  exportation  or  sale  ;  as  is 
usually  done  ;  or  whether  the  peculiar  skill  of  our  tar-burners 
bettered  the  commodity,  we  had  not  experience  enough  to 
decide  :  because  we  were  obliged  to  put  a  stop  to  that  kind  of 
manufacture,  by  the  Act  of  Parliament  coming  over,  and 
prescribing  a  new  method  to  be  observed  in  the  making  of  tar. 
Hereupon  we  considered  how  greatly  the  consumption  of  pine- 
trees  would  be  encreased  by  this  new  method,  since  we  were 
to  be  debarred  extracting  from  the  knots  of  light-wood,  and 
decayed  limbs  of  trees  (which  were  always  to  be  found 
plentifully  scattered  upon  the  ground  throughout  the  pine 
woods)  and  even  from  whole  groups,  of  some  hundreds,  of  pine- 
trees,  wch.  we  often  behold,  all  on  a  sudden,  to  sicken  and  dye 
together,  as  if  they  grow  from  one  common  root ;  for  altho' 
the  sap  and  wood  of  those  trees  will  rot  and  moulder  away,  yet 
the  fat  substance,  of  which  the  tar  is  made,  never  perishes  or 
consumes  by  anything ;  but  by  fire  :  and  since  we  were  hereafter 
to  draw  our  tar  from  no  other,  than  live  standing  pines,  we  must 
destroy  trees,  of  perhaps  three  score  and  four  score  foot  in 
length,  for  the  sake  of  burning  only  eight  foot  at  the  stump. 
Besides  we  considered  that  people  had  ever  taken  the  liberty 
to  gather  up,  and  use  the  lightwood-knots,  wch.  they  found 
upon  the  ungranted  lands  ;  and  that  even  such  Proprietors  of 
land,  as  had  no  design  of  making  tar  themselves,  would  scarce 
refuse  a  neighbour  to  disencumber  his  ground  of  them  :  but  to 
cut  down  a  tree,  for  ye  making  tar,  would  be  deemed  a  trespass, 
and  not  easily  allowed  of.  Wherefore  we  concluded  upon  the 
expediency  of  enlarging  our  surveys  of  land,  and  two  tracts, 
wch.  then  amounted  to  about  14,000  acres,  are  encreased  to 
the  above-mentioned  large  tract  of  40,000  acres.  But  after  a 
great  number  of  pine  trees  had,  not  only  by  me,  but  by  several 
other  adventurers,  been  barked  and  managed  according  to 
the  directions  in  the  Act  of  Parliament,  I  never  could  hear  of 
any  one's  succeeding  to  make  tar  after  that  new  method.  And 
at  last,  that  I  might  be  assured  there  was  no  neglect  in  those, 
who  were  to  tend  the  kiln,  I  was  myself  there,  both  by  night 
and  day  and  was  an  eye  wittness,  that  with  all  possible  care, 
we  did  not  get  one  barril  of  tar  out  of  twenty  trees  ;  notwith- 
standing the  remaining  parts  of  some  of  those  trees  were  so 
full  of  turpentine,  that  being  brought  to  the  saw-pit,  the  sawyers 
could  not  cut  above  one  foot,  without  stopping  to  clean  their 
saw.  So  that  if  the  East  Country  tar  be  made  after  the  manner 
prescribed  in  the  Act  (of  wch.  there  is  good  reason  to  doubt), 

C.P.  XXXVI— 4 


50  COLONIAL   PAPERS. 

1728. 

there  must  be  some  peculiar  skill  in  extracting  it,  wch.  we  are 
ignorant  of.  And  lastly  as  to  the  iron  concern  ;  my  partners 
and  I  went  roundly  to  work  and  set  up  the  first  furnace,  that 
ever  was  known  in  North  America,  for  casting  pig  and  sow  iron, 
and  tho'  we  miscaried  in  our  first  attempt,  by  the  failure  of 
our  hearth-stones,  yet  the  little  iron  which  we  sent  home,  was 
so  approved  of,  that  immediately  both  at  Bristol,  and  Berming- 
ham,  partnerships  were  formed  for  making  and  importing  pig- 
iron  from  America.  And  the  iron  wch.  I  have  since  imported  has 
grown  yearly  more  in  esteem  with  the  iron-masters  in  England 
who  find  it  the  best  in  the  world  for  some  certain  uses,  and  also 
that  they  being  mixed  at  the  forge  with  the  English,  proves  as 
tough  and  good  as  the  Sweedish  iron.  These  undertakings  were 
so  liked  by  many  of  the  Virginians,  that  several  persons  sold 
their  possessions  in  the  lower  parts  of  the  country,  and  removing 
with  their  wives  and  children,  with  their  servants  and  slaves, 
and  with  all  their  substance,  took  up  larger  tracts  of  land  in 
these  upper  parts,  where  I  was  carrying  on  the  aforementioned 
projects.  And  the  Assembly  for  the  encouragement  of  such 
adventurers,  as  well  as  for  better  securing  the  frontiers,  erected 
those  upper  parts  into  two  new  counties  ;  exempting  all  the 
inhabitants  thereof  from  paying  publick  taxes  for  ten  years  etc., 
and  petitioned  the  King  to  grant  them  an  exemption  from 
quit-rents  etc.  About  a  year  and  a  half  afterwards,  the 
Assembly  for  the  further  encouragement  of  naval  stores,  passed 
an  Act,  whereby  they  gave  a  bounty  (additional  to  that  given 
by  the  British  Parliament)  of  £4  for  every  tun  of  Virginia  hemp, 
and  of  2*.  for  every  barril  of  tar,  made  after  the  new  method 
prescribed  by  the  Act  of  Parliament ;  and  accordingly  lodged 
in  their  Treasurer's  hands  £5200  appropriated  to  such  uses. 
And  they  moreover  addressed  me,  then  as  their  Governor,  to 
go  in  person  to  Albany,  to  endeavour  to  conclude  a  peace  with 
the  five  Nations  and  other  Northern  Indians,  who  at  that  time 
were  continually  making  inroads  upon  that  part  of  the  Colony 
where  these  undertakings  were  on  foot.  Thus  far  the  under- 
taking appearing  to  be  countenanced  and  encouraged,  was 
carried  on  with  spirrit  and  vigour ;  for  notwithstanding  I  had 
lost  by  death  two  of  my  principal  and  most  active  partners, 
and  that  the  rest  were  grown  less  sanguine  upon  the  adventure, 
•  finding  it  was  a  work  of  more  time  and  difficulty  than  they 
apprehended  at  their  first  setting  out ;  yet  I  piquing  myself 
upon  the  success  of  the  project,  took  upon  me  the  whole  con- 
cern, after  reimbursing  my  partners  all  their  expences,  wch. 
amounted  to  no  less  than  £5000  ;  besides  what  I  had  been  in 
disburse  for  my  own  share.  And  that  I  pursued  this  project 
chiefly  with  a  view  to  the  publick  good,  one  of  my  letters  to 
your  Lordships'  Board  may  sufficiently  manifest ;  seeing  I 
therein  proposed  to  make  a  free  offer  of  all  my  possessions  and 
improvements  in  Virginia,  to  be  made  use  of  land  carried  on, 


AMERICA  AND   WEST  INDIES.  51 

1728. 

as  the  Ministry  should  please,  for  the  benefit  of  the  Navy  : 
contenting  myself  with  the  honour  of  the  first  projection,  if 
ever  my  plan  should  succeed  to  lessen  the  dependance  of  the 
British  Nation  on  the  Northern  Crowns  ;  and  wholly  relying 
on  my  Prince's  favour  to  make  any  further  use  of  my  faithful 
services,  or  allow  me  a  competent  support  for  what  I  should 
surrender  etc.  v.  1st  June,  1724.  Continues : — I  am  next  to- 
display  what  has  obstructed  and  discouraged  the  design. 
After  I  was  thus  deeply  embarked,  and  while  I  was  in  ful 
pursuit  of  the  adventures,  I  to  my  great  surprise,  found  myself 
superseded  in  my  Government ;  and  my  successor,  soon  after 
his  arrival,  calling  a  new  Assembly,  passed  an  act  which 
declared  the  abovementioned  sum  of  £5200  to  be  no  longer 
appropriated  for  paying  the  bounty  on  naval  stores,  and  applied 
the  same  to  paying  the  Burgesses  for  their  attendance  in 
Assembly.  He  passed  also  another  act,  laying  a  duty  of 
405.  per  head  on  imported  slaves  ;  the  passage  of  wch.  was 
remarkable,  seeing  he  had  all  along  vehemently  declared 
against  giving  his  assent  to  any  such  bill,  and  did  not  favour 
it,  until  he  understood  that  I  had  made  a  contract  with  the 
Affrican  Company  for  400  negroes  ;  as  intending  to  push  on 
my  undertakings  with  the  utmost  vigour.  And  what  was 
stil  more  remarkable,  when  a  bill  was  brought  in  the  same 
session,  for  the  protection  of  my  works  (some  mallicious  attempts 
having  been  made  upon  them),  he  personally  interposed,  in  a 
very  extraordinary  manner,  to  stop  it.  Moreover  he  without 
disguise  took  measures  to  draw  from  me  all  my  German  tenants, 
and  openly  abetted  them  in  their  not  paying  their  rent,  and  in 
not  working  for  me  according  to  their  agreements.  These 
with  some  other  unfavourable  proceedings  of  the  same  stamp, 
were  sufficient  to  let  the  country  see,  that  the  Adventurers 
on  naval  stores  would  not  be  encouraged  under  his  Govern- 
ment, and  so  could  not  but  give  a  check  to  the  spirit,  wch. 
I  had  been  labouring  to  raise  among  the  people,  for  applying 
part  of  their  lands  and  industry  that  way.  But  when,  instead 
of  the  bounty,  which  had  been  long  expected  from  the 
Assembly's  petition,  for  a  remission  of  the  rights  and  quit- 
rents  in  the  two  new  erected  counties,  this  Governor  obtained 
(by  what  means  or  representation,  I  shall  not  venture  to  say) 
an  hard  restraint  upon  all  the  generous  Adventurers,  whereby 
no  person  was,  for  seven  years,  to  be  allowed  to  take  up  within 
these  two  counties,  more  than  1000  acres,  in  his  own  or  any 
other  name  in  trust  for  him  ;  this  new  and  extraordinary 
restriction  (which  was  not  to  affect  the  rest  of  the  Collony, 
or  any  other  Province  in  North  America  ;  but  was  confined 
solely  to  the  very  spot,  where  the  grand  undertakings,  for 
raising  all  manner  of  naval  stores  were  on  foot)  did  not  only 
dishearten,  but  also  disable  the  Adventurers  from  pursuing 
their  design  :  and  more  especially  since  the  Governor  would 


52  COLONIAL   PAPERS. 

1728. 

divest  them  of  even  the  lands  wch.  they  had  taken  up  and 
improved,  before  the  date  of  the  restraining  order.  Upon 
this  I  came  to  England,  in  1724,  to  represent  the  case  ;  and 
at  my  first  arrival  attended  at  your  Lordship's  Board,  with  a 
great  number  of  merchants  who  joyned  with  me  to  satisfie 
your  Lordships  that  tar  could  not  be  made  in  the  Plantations, 
after  the  method  prescribed  by  the  Act  of  Parliament  :  and 
altho'  in  my  petition  to  His  late  Majesty,  for  the  confirmation 
of  my  lands,  I  particularly  set  forth,  how  my  zeal  for  the 
nation's  service,  in  promoting  naval  stores  in  the  Plantations, 
had  involved  me  in  the  difficulties,  which  affected  my  grants 
etc.,  yet  your  Lordships  did  not  think  anything  I  had  alledged 
in  my  petition,  or  more  largely  urged  in  my  case  before  your 
Board,  concerning  naval  stores,  to  be  material  enough,  to  have 
the  least  notice  taken  thereof  in  your  report  etc.,  or 
by  any  manner  of  expression  to  satisfie  his  Majesty  that  I  had 
done  wel,  in  endeavouring  to  raise  naval  stores  :  so  that  it 
remains  to  this  day  a  doubt,  whether  our  endeavours  of  that 
sort  shall  not  pass  for  misdeeds  ;  and  whether  the  Adventurers 
shall  not  loose  their  lands  and  improvements,  for  embarking 
too  far  in  such  an  undertaking.  These,  my  Lords,  are  the 
real  discouragements,  wch.  I  know  to  have  put  a  stop  to  the 
progress  of  naval  stores  in  Virginia  ;  But  what  has  been  the 
finishing  stroke  to  cut  off  our  supplies  of  American  tar,  every 
dealer  therein  will  readily  say,  is  the  ceasing  to  give  a  bounty 
therein  ;  for  they  demonstrate  by  their  accompts,  that  while 
tar  bears  at  home  so  low  a  price,  as  it  does  at  present,  they 
cannot  import  it  without  a  premium  :  which  however  the 
merchants,  trading  in  that  Plantation  commodity,  judge  now 
may  be  reduced  one  fourth  of  the  former  bounty  ;  provided 
the  payment  be  made  after  the  course  of  the  Navy  bills,  and 
that  the  duty  of  7*.  Qd.  pr.  last  at  importation  be  also  taken 
off  etc.  Continues  : — I  must  entreat  your  Lordships  to  excuse 
me  from  concerning  myself  any  farther  about  hemp  and  tar, 
after  I  have  suffered  so  severely  etc.  But  as  to  iron  (which 
undertaking  I  still  pursue  with  courage  ;  because  I  am  secure 
in  my  grant  for  the  land,  where  that  is  carrying  on)  I  herein 
humbly  offer  some  observations  and  proposals  etc.  for 
encouraging  the  casting  of  that  metal  in  America,  and  then 
importing  it  in  pigs  and  sows,  to  be  further  manufactured  in 
Great  Britain  etc.  England*  is  obliged  to  import  yearly  above 
20,000  tons  of  bar-iron  from  foreign  countries  for  the  greatest 
part  whereof  we  always  pay  money,  and  is  thus  dependent 
on  the  pleasure  of  foreign  states  for  its  supply  etc.  Neither 
is  there  the  least  prospect  that  we  can  attain  to  the  providing 
ourselves  from  our  own  home  produce  with  iron  enough  etc., 
seeing  that  the  vast  quantity  of  large  charcoal,  wch.  so  many 
additional  furnaces  must  necessarily  consume,  is  an  expence 
far  beyond  what  the  woods  of  Great  Britain  and  Ireland  are 


AMERICA  AND   WEST  INDIES.  53 

1728. 

ever  likely  to  afford.  But  on  the  continent  of  North  America, 
where  it  has  of  late  years  been  discovered,  that  we  have  great 
store  of  rich  iron  ore,  wood  so  plentifully  abounds,  that  the 
new-seated  inhabitants,  in  this  age,  are  continually  labouring 
to  destroy  the  same,  in  order  to  clear  the  lands  for  tillage,  or 
open  the  country  for  air  and  prospect.  Timber,  which  the 
nation  very  much  wants,  will  make  up  a  great  part  of  the 
ship's  ladings,  for  no  vessel  loaded  either  entirely  with  iron, 
or  intirely  with  timber,  can  bear  the  sea  etc.  As  I  propose 
that  the  manufacture  of  iron  should,  in  the  Plantations,  be 
carried  no  farther  than  to  castings  ;  and  that  their  pig-iron 
should  be  brought  to  Great  Britain,  to  be  forged  into  bar,  or 
hammer-iron,  my  scheme  does  not  tend  to  the  lessning  of  any 
one  furnace  etc.,  but  will  supply  a  great  many  more  etc.,  and 
create  a  large  demand  on  our  Country  Gentlemen  for  their 
copse-wood  as  well  as  an  additional  consumption  of  our  sea- 
coal  etc.  Proposes  the  taking  off  the  present  duty  of  4s.  per 
tun  on  such  iron,  and  the  freeing  it  from  the  charge  of  landing 
and  weighing  at  the  Custom-House  keys  etc.  Signed,  A. 
Spotswood.  Endorsed,  Reed.  5th,  Read  6th  March,  172 1. 
12  pp.  [C.O.  323,  8.  No.  85.] 

March  5.  95.  Petition  of  Six  Lords  Proprietors  of  Carolina  to  the 
King.  Refer  to  petition  of  27th  May,  1727,  referred  to  Com- 
mittee of  Privy  Council.  Continue : — Petitioners  being 
informed  some  difficulties  may  probably  arise  with  respect  to 
the  method  of  such  surrender,  and  being  desirous  to  shew, 
their  ready  inclination  to  remove  every  obstacle  and  concur 
in  all  things  which  may  tend  to  your  Majesty's  honour  and  con- 
sequently to  the  peace  and  prosperity  of  your  Majesty's  subjects 
in  that  Province  by  setling  it  in  the  most  safe  and  beneficial 
mannor,  Your  petitioners  do  now  most  humbly  offer  and 
propose  to  your  Majesty,  that  you  will  be  pleased  to  accept 
from  your  petitioners  an  absolute  and  intire  surrender  of  their 
respective  shares  and  interests  not  only  of  the  sovereignty, 
but  of  the  right  and  property  they  have  to  the  soil  in  the  said 
Province  of  Carolina  by  virtue  of  the  two  Charters  granted 
by  King  Charles  the  Second,  humbly  praying  your  Majestic 
will  be  graciously  pleased  to  direct  and  cause  to  be  paid  to 
your  petitioners  each  of  them  respectively  the  sum  of  £2,500 
without  any  fee  or  deduction  upon  the  payment  of  which  they 
are  willing  in  due  form  to  execute  a  surrender  of  their  intire 
propertie  in  the  sd.  Province  of  Carolina  as  above.  And  in 
regard  your  petitioners  have  several  arrears  of  quit-rents 
and  other  dues  unaccounted  for  which  by  reason  of  the  disorders 
and  distractions  in  the  said  Province,  they  have  not  been  able 
to  collect  and  receive  whereby  a  great  arreare  of  debt  now 
remains  due  and  unpaid  from  your  petitioners  to  their  officers 
and  others.  Your  petitioners  doe  therefore  most  humbly 


54 


COLONIAL   PAPERS. 


1728. 


pray  your  Majestic  that  upon  your  Majesties  accepting  the 
before  mentioned  surrender,  your  Majestic  will  be  graciously 
pleased  to  give  proper  instructions  to  your  Governor  or  any 
other  your  Majesty's  officers  to  assist  your  petitioners  in  setling 
their  demands  of  arrears  of  quit-rents  or  other  dues  and  to 
receive  and  collect  the  same  for  the  use  of  your  petitioners 
thereby  to  enable  them  to  discharge  the  demands  which  are 
now  upon  them  by  reason  of  the  said  quit-rents  and  dues 
being  unpaid.  Signed,  D.  of  Beaufort,  Ld.  Craven,  James 
Bertie,  H.  Bertie,  J.  Colleton,  Archd.  Hutchinson.  [C.O.  5, 
290.  pp.  257,  258.] 


March  5.        96.     H.M.   Warrant  appointing    William  Randolph  to  the 
St.  James's.    Council  of  Virginia.     Countersigned,   Holies  Newcastle.     [C.O. 
324,  36.     pp.  35,  36.] 


March  5. 

London. 


97.  Commodore  St.  Lo.  to  the  Council  of  Trade  and 
Plantations.  As  promised  18th  Aug.,  encloses  plan  of  the 
Grand  Beach  at  Placentia,  "  that  your  Lordships  may  dispose 
of  the  same  for  the  advantage  of  the  Fishery,  presuming  that 
of  right  it  belongs  to  the  fishing  shipps  etc.,  they  now  find  them- 
selves deprived  of  that  benefit  by  the  Lt.  Governor,  who  makes 
the  Commanders  pay  to  him  very  extravagant  rents  yearly 
for  the  use  of  the  same  "  etc.  Refers  to  letters  of  20th  and  30th 
Sept.,  and  15th  Nov.  Continues : — Several  of  the  French 
inhabitants  of  Placentia,  who  had  taken  the  oaths  to  his  late 
Majesty,  and  continued  there,  and  on  the  West  side  of  that 
Bay,  finding  themselves  male  treated,  soon  after  quitted  their 
residence  (and  retired  to  Cape  Britton,  and  others  into  the 
Bay  of  Fortune  and  D'Espoir)  from  under  the  wings  of  (as 
they  call  him)  an  arbitrary  Lieut.  Governor,  who  afterwards 
seized  upon  and  sold  their  Plantations,  an  instance  of  which 
I  here  inclose  etc.  This  is  a  manifest  encroachment  on  the 
fishery  and  imposition  on  all  H.M.  good  subjects  etc.  Signed, 
John  St.  Lo.  Endorsed,  Reed.  5th  March,  Read  2nd  April, 
1728.  2  pp.  Enclosed, 

97.  i.  Copy  of  grant  of  a  plantation  by  Lt.  Govr.  Gledhill. 
v.  C.S.P.  Sept.  30,  1727,  end.  i.  Same  endorse- 
ment. I  p.  [C.O.  194,  8.  ff.  148,  148u.,  1490.— 150u.] 


March  6.  98.  Petition  of  Henry  Newman  to  the  Council  of  Trade 
and  Plantations.  Is  directed  by  Lt.  Governor  Wentworth  to 
solicite  the  passing  of  the  Triennial  Act  of  New  Hampshire, 
sent  home  in  1724,  since  other  Corporations  at  home  and  in 
the  Plantations  are  allowed  this  privilege  etc.  Signed,  Henry 
Newman.  Endorsed,  Reed.  7th  March,  Read  24th  May,  1728. 
f  p.  [C.O.  5,  870.  ff.  65,  66t>.] 


AMERICA  AND   WEST  INDIES. 


55 


1728. 

[March  7.]  99.  Address  of  the  Clergy  of  S.  Carolina  to  the  King. 
Welcome,  thrice  welcome,  Great  Sir,  to  the  throne  of  your 
Ancestors  etc.  10  signatures.  Endorsed,  Rd.  March  7, 
1728,  from  the  Bishop  of  London,  who  desired  it  might  not 
be  inserted  in  the  Gazette.  1  p.  [C.O.  5,  383.  No.  36.] 

March  7.       100.     Mr.   Popple  to  Mr.   Fane.     Encloses  draught  of  bill 

Whitehall,    for  ife  better  and  more  effectual  preservation  of  H.M.  woods  in 

America,  and  for  encouraging  the  importation  of  Naval  Stores 

from  thence,  for  his  opinion  thereupon  in  point  of  law,  as  soon 

as  possibly  may  be.     [C.O.  324,  11.     pp.  63,  64.] 


March  7. 

Jamaica . 


March  8. 

Westminster. 


March  11. 


March  12. 

Boston. 


1 01 .  Governor  Hunter  to  Temple  Stanyan.     Has  nothing 
to  add  to  letter  of  10th  Feb.,  but  would   "  be  glad  to  know  Mr. 
Coleman's   resolution    as   to   Mr.    Bowerman's    offer."     If  the 
Assembly  reflects  the  disposition  and  temper  which  is  generally 
observed  at  present  in  the  country,  he  may  hope  for  a  good 
issue  etc.     "  We  have  had  no  ship  from  Europe  since  my  arrival 
or   advice   from   Mr.    Hopson   since    he    sail'd   for   ye   coast." 
Encloses  duplicate  of  10th  Feb.     Signed,  Ro.  Hunter.     Endorsed, 
R.  May,  22th.     Holograph.  1  p.     [C.O.  137,  53.    ff.  24,  25u.] 

102.  H.M.   letters   patent   renewing   patent   of  Alexander 
Henderson,     Attorney     General     of    Jamaica.     Countersigned, 
Cocks.     Copy.     [C.O.  324,  49.    ff.  55-57.] 

103.  Mr.  Beake  and  Mr.  Meure  to  Mr.  Popple.     Ask  that 
hearing    of   complaint    against  Lt.    General  Mathew    may    be 
deferred.     Signed,  Tho.  Beake,  Abraham  Meure.         Endorsed, 
Reed.     Read   12th   March,    172|.     2  pp.     [C.O.   152,    16.    ff. 
158,  158i>.,  159t;.] 

104.  Lt.  Governor  Dummer  to  the  Council  of  Trade  and 
Plantations.     Since  my  last  to  your  Lordships  wee  have  had 
a  long  Sessions  of  the  General  Court  of  this  Province,  copies 
of  all  the  Votes,  Acts  and  Orders,  passed  therein  shall  bee  sent 
you  as  soon  as  the  Secretary  can  prepare  them  who  looses  no 
time  in   copying  them  over.     In   perusing  the  said  votes    &c., 
your  Ldships  will  perceive  the  great  struggle  that  has  been 
made  for  more  bills  of  Credit  which  are  insisted  on  as  absolutely 
necessary  for  the  support  of  the  Government  and  the  trade 
and  buisness  of  the  inhabitants  :   for  which  important  occations 
divers   bills   have   passed   the   House   of  Representatives   and 
met  with  a  non-concurrence  at  the  Councill.     At  length  a  bill 
entituled  An  Act  for  Fortifications  etc.,  passed  both  Houses, 
but  the  sd.  bill  seeming  to  be  inconsistent  with  instructions 
from  their  Excellencys  the  Lords  Justices,  d.  Sepr.  27th,  1720, 
and   also    with   the   instructions    from   your   Lordships    dated 
Februr.  8,  1726/7,  signed  by  Mr.  Popple,  I  thought  it  necessary 


56  COLONIAL   PAPERS. 

1728. 

to  take  the  advice  of  H.M.  Council  of  this  Province  thereon 
who  gave  it  their  opinion  that  the  bill  was  inconsistent  with 
sd.  instructions,  notwithstanding  that  they  had  before  passed 
a  Concurrence  on  it  (as  they  say)  in  another  capacity :  upon 
wch.  I  rejected  the  bill.  After  that  another  bill  was  projected 
and  passed  both  Houses  intituled  an  Act  for  raising  and  settling 
a  publick  Revenue  for  and  towards  the  defraying  the  necessary 
charges  of  this  Government  wch.  bill  being  for  an  emission  of 
sixty  thousand  pounds  altho'  it  was  for  raising  a  revenue  for 
the  support  of  the  Government,  yet  the  interest  onely  being  to 
be  apply'd  for  that  service  I  thought  it  necessary  to  summon 
all  the  Council  of  the  Province  (whereof  23  appeared)  to  take 
their  opinion  upon  it  with  reference  to  the  aforementioned 
instructions,  and  their  answer  I  now  inclose  to  yr.  Lordships. 
Upon  which  I  shall  onely  observe  that  tho'  they  mention  in 
the  first  part  thereof  that  they  don't  think  themselves  obleiged 
to  give  any  further  advice  on  the  sd.  bill  then  what  they 
expressed  by  their  concurrence  to  it  as  part  of  the  Legislature, 
they  nevertheless  say  as  follows  :  "At  the  same  time  they 
cannot  but  think  it  will  be  as  well  for  H.M.  honour  and  service 
and  agreeable  to  your  duty  to  H.M.  as  for  the  good  and  welfare 
of  the  Province  and  the  necessary  support  of  the  Government 
thereof  if  the  bill  bee  consented  to  by  your  honour."  Upon 
which  I  passed  the  bill  conceiving  my  selfe  in  all  difficult  and 
doubtful  cases  most  safe  in  p'sueing  the  advice  of  H.M.  Council  : 
wch.  if  it  be  agreeable  to  your  Ldships'  sentiments  as  I  have 
alwayes  endeavoured  to  conforme  my  selfe  I  shall  have  greater 
satisfaction.  As  to  the  hundred  thousand  pounds  that  your 
Lordships  mention'd  you  expected  I  would  take  effectual 
care  to  have  brought  in  and  burnt  to  ashes  according  to  the 
time  appointed  by  the  Act  for  emitting  the  same  I  have  already 
acquainted  your  Ldships  of  my  proceedings  therein  that  I 
have  persued  it  as  farr  as  lay  in  my  power,  but  inasmuch  as 
it  lay  with  the  General  Court  by  an  Act  to  appoint  p'sons 
for  the  receiving  and  burning  thereof  wch.  I  could  not  at 
that  time  obtaine,  and  that  the  Commissioners  for  calling  in 
the  mony  were  under  some  difficulty  as  to  sueing  out  the 
mortgages,  which  they  thought  they  wanted  the  authority  of 
the  Genl.  Court  to  assist  them  in.  I  was  willing  to  do  the 
next  best  I  could  which  was  to  consent  to  a  resolve  now  passed 
wch.  will  effectually  bring  in  all  the  sd.  bills  within  the  space 
of  4  years  wch.  considering  the  equity  of  redemption  provided 
for  in  the  first  Act  will  not  protract  the  time  above  one  year 
eaven  for  the  last  payment  beyond  what  the  borrowers  might 
have  done  by  vertue  of  that  Act.  I  lately  received  a  letter 
from  your  Lordships  dated  the  31st  of  August  wch.  mentions 
that  some  Governors  of  H.M.  Plantations  have  not  made 
abstracts  in  the  margins,  of  the  Minutes  of  Council  and  Assembly 
etc.,  wch.  I  think  has  alwayes  been  don  on  those  sent  from 


AMERICA   AND   WEST   INDIES. 


57 


1728. 


March  13. 

Whitehall. 


hence  but  if  your  Ldships  will  please  to  point  out  where  wee 
have  been  wanting  I  shall  take  care  while  I  have  the  honour 
to  bee  in  command  to  have  it  p'formed.  Before  the  Court 
rose  they  voted  a  Committee  to  consult  proper  measures  to 
restore  the  value  of  the  bills  of  Credit  of  this  Province  wch. 
if  it  can  be  done  propperly  will  doubtless  be  for  H.M.  service 
and  the  benefit  of  the  people.  It  may  not  be  improper  to 
add  one  word  further  concerning  the  Act  for  calling  in  the 
100,000  that  tho  the  burning  of  them  is  not  incerted  therein 
yet  its  all  one,  for  the  bills  are  all  dead  when  they  are  return'd 
into  the  Treasury  as  much  as  if  they  had  never  been  made, 
and  a  reason  given  for  not  incerting  it  was  that  whereas  many 
of  them  might  be  good  bills  and  so  by  being  changed  for  bills 
torn  and  defaced  might  save  the  charge  of  making  more  for 
that  use  and  for  the  yearly  emissions  for  the  charges  of  the 
Government.  I  inclose  your  Lordships  the  copy  of  advice  of 
Council  for  passing  this  bill  etc.  Signed,  Wm.  Dummer. 
Endorsed,  Reed.  14th,  Read  24th  May,  1728.  4  pp.  Enclosed, 
104.  i.  Minutes  of  Council  of  the  Massachusetts  Bay,  Feb. 
17-20,  1728.  Endorsed,  Reed.  29th  April,  1728.  1  p. 

104.  ii.  Minute    of    Council,    Jan.    26,    1728.     1    p.     Same 

endorsement.     1  p.     [C.O.  5,  870.    ff.  104-105t;.,  106i;., 
107,  108i;.,  109,  llOu.] 

105.  Duke    of   Newcastle   to   the    Council   of   Trade    and 
Plantations.     H.M.  having  been  pleased  to  continue  Richard 
Philips  in  the  employment  of  Governor  of  Placentia  and  Capt. 
General  and  Governor  in  Chief  of  Nova  Scotia  etc.,  you  are  to 
prepare  draughts  of  a  Commission  and  Instructions  for  him 
etc.     Signed,    Holies  Newcastle.     Endorsed,  Reed.  14th,  Read 
16th  March,  172|.     1  p.     [C.O.  217,  5.    ff.  9, 


[Mar  15.]  106.  Officers  of  H.M.  Yard  at  Woolwich  to  Col.  Spotswood. 
Oct.  27,  1725.  Certificate  that  they  found  the  sample  of 
Virginia  hemp  submitted  by  him,  to  be  considerably  superior 
to  the  best  Russia,  and  equal  in  strength  with  the  best  Riga 
hemp.  Cf.  4th  March,  1728.  Signed,  T.  Holmes.  Endorsed, 
Reed,  (from  Col.  Spotswood)  15th  March,  172|.  Copy,  f  p. 
[C.O.  5,  1321.  ff.  12,  13t>.] 


March  15. 

Whitehall. 


March  15. 


107.  Mr.    Popple   to   Sir   Jacob   Ac[k]worth,    Surveyor   of 
H.M.  Navy.     Requests  a  return  of  prices  of  Naval  Stores  for 
some  years  before  the  Revolution  to  1698,  and  for  as  many 
years  as  possible    since  Christmas,   1716.     [C.O.   389,   28.     p. 
335.] 

108.  David  Dunbar  to  Temple  Stanyan.     Encloses  letter 
from  New  England  concerning  the  condemnation  of  200  fine 
masts  for  H.M.  use,  and  asks  for  directions  thereon  from  the 


58 


COLONIAL   PAPERS. 


1728. 


March  15. 

Whitehall. 


March  16. 

N. 
Providence. 


Duke  of  Newcastle,  and  also  upon  the  question  of  furnishing 
the  Spaniards  with  large  planks  etc.  Being  about  to  imbark, 
asks  that  his  former  memorial  may  be  referred  to  the  Board  of 
Trade  etc.  Signed,  David  Dunbar.  Addressed.  1  p.  [C.O. 
5,  898.  No,  44.] 

109.  Duke  of  Newcastle  to  the  Council  of  Trade  and 
Plantations.  I  have  laid  before  the  King  your  report  upon 
the  Duke  of  Montagu's  petition  etc.  His  Majesty  expected 
your  report  would  have  been  more  particular  upon  several 
points,  of  which  H.M.  would  be  apprised,  in  order  to  form  a 
judgement  whether  his  Grace's  request  is  proper  to  be  granted. 
H.M.  would  know  of  what  advantage  you  apprehend  that  the 
settling  of  Tobago  may  be  to  his  Revenue,  and  to  the  Trade 
and  Navigation  of  his  subjects  in  this  Kingdom  ;  how  it  may 
affect  H.M.  other  Dominions  in  America,  in  the  relation  to 
their  security  and  commerce  ;  and  what  effect  it  would  have 
upon  the  trade  and  navigation  of  other  Nations  possesst  of 
Colonies  and  Plantations  in  America  etc.  Returns  report  of 
27th  Feb.  for  their  opinion  "  in  these  particulars  and  such 
others  as  may  occurr  to  you."  Signed,  Holies  Newcastle. 
Endorsed,  Reed.  18th,  Read  22nd  March,  172|.  l£  pp.  [C.O. 
28,  19.  ff.  102,  102u.,  103u.]  ' 


110.  Governor  Phenney  to  the  Council  of  Trade  and 
Plantations.  Sends  public  papers  by  way  of  S.  Carolina. 
Continues  :  —  Not  having  receiv'd  any  stores  of  war  etc.,  and 
the  encreasing  rumours  of  a  war  oblige  me  to  continue  my 
sollicitations  on  that  head.  Our  fort  to  the  eastward  advancing 
apace  I  don't  question,  if  we  are  accordingly  supplied  with 
amunition,  to  make  this  port  very  defencible  against  any 
force  the  Spaniards  can  send.  When  I  wrote  in  Nov.  last 
I  was  in  a  very  weak  and  languishing  condition  and  desir'd 
your  Lordships  to  interceed  with  H.M.  for  his  Royal  lycence 
to  go  for  England  for  the  re-establishment  of  my  health,  but 
it  having  pleas'd  God  to  restore  me  in  great  measure,  I  don't 
question  but  to  be  able  to  do  my  duty  in  case  anything  happens. 
The  Gunner's  account  enclos'd  will  show  how  low  our  stock 
of  powder  is,  and  I  beg  your  Lordships  will  excuse  my  mention- 
ing it  again,  considering  our  condition  and  incapacity  to  supply 
ourselves.  Signed,  G.  Phenney.  Endorsed,  Reed.  3rd  June, 
Read  9th.  July,  1728.  1  p.  Enclosed, 

110.  i.  Governor  Phenney's  Replies  to  Queries  of  the  Board 
of  Trade.  Repeats  former  answers,  v.  C.S.P.  28th. 
Jan.,  1726  and  20th  April,  1727,  adding  to  list  of 
negroes  imported,  two  imported  from  Barbados  in 
1727.  Endorsed,  Reed.  3rd  June,  1728.  10  pp. 
110.  ii.  Account  of  stores  of  war  wanting  at  Nassau.  Signed, 
G.  Phenney,  and  six  Councillors.  2  pp. 


AMERICA  AND   WEST  INDIES.  59 

1728. 

110.  iii.  Account  of  stores  of  war  brought  over  by  Governors 
Rogers  and  Phenney  and  what  remains  1st  Jan.,  1728. 
Signed,  Willm.  Shott.  3  pp.  Nos.  ii  and  iii 
endorsed,  Reed.  3rd  June,  1728. 

110.  iv.  Public  Accounts  for  1727.  Receipts  (including  £20 
12s.  9d.  brought  forward)  £84  13s.  9d.  Expenditure 
£53  11s.  6d.  Signed  and  sworn  to  in  Council,  Pr. 
Goudet,  Treasurer.  Endorsed  as  preceding.  2  pp. 

110.  v.  List  of  Baptisms  in  1727,  (30  infants,  18  adults)  ; 
Marriages  (7),  and  burials  (7).  Signed,  a  true  copy 
from  the  Church  Register,  W.  Fairfax,  Secry.  Same 
endorsement.  I  folded  p.  [C.O.  23,  2.  ff.I8I,l82v- 
I37v.,  138u.-141,  142t>.,  143t;.-145u.  ;  and  (enclosure 
i  only),  23,  12.  No.  95.] 

[Mar.  16.]  111-  List  of  ships  entered  and  cleared  at  New  Providence, 
26th  Dec.,  1727— 25th  March,  1728.  Signed  and  sworn  to, 
by  Jno.  Warner.  Navl.  Offr.  Endorsed,  in  Governor  Phenney's, 
March  16.  6  pp.  [C.O.  23,  12.  No.  94.] 

March  16.       112.     Governor     Phenney     to     the     Duke     of    Newcastle. 
Duplicate  of  No.  110.     Signed,  G.  Phenney.      Endorsed,  R.  5th 
ice-    June.     l^pp.     Enclosed, 

112.  i.  Minutes    of    Council    of   the    Bahama    Islands    10th 

March— 16th  Dec.,  172f .     28  pp. 

112.  ii-vi.  Duplicates  of  Nos.  110  ii-v  and  111.  [C.O. 
23,  14.  ff.  13,  18u.,  14U.-30,  3lv.,  32,  33t;.,  34, 
35u.,  36,  37-38,  39,  890.] 

March  16.       113.     Mr.  Popple  to  Mr.  Oxenford.     Asks  for  an  account, 
Whitehall,     as  soon  as  possibly  may  be,  of  iron  imported  for  10  years  past, 
and  of  duties  now  payable  thereon,  especially  pig  iron  from 
the  British  Plantations.     [C.O.  324,  11.     p.  64.] 

March  18.       114.     Sir  Jacob  Acworth  to  Mr.  Popple.     In  reply  to  15th 
Navy  Office.  March,  encloses  following  and  account  of  prices  of  Naval  Stores 
rendered  by  Navy  Board  8th  Aug.  1696.     Signed,  Ja.  Acworth. 
Endorsed,  Reed.,   Read  19th  March  172$.     1  p.     Enclosed, 
114.  i.  Account  of  prices  annually  given  by  the  Navy  Board 
for  pitch,  tar  and  turpentine  and  for  New  England 
masts,    yards    and    bowsprits,    1717-1727    inclusive. 
3  pp.     [C.O.  323,  8.     Nos.  86,  86  i.] 

[Mar.?  19.]       115.     Five  Lords  Proprietors  of  Carolina  to  the  Committee  of 

i2fchfcweenh    ^r*vy  Council.     [Reply  to  enquiries  by  the  Committee,  (12th  March) 

March.       concerning  grants  of  lands  made  by  the  Proprietors  of  Carolina 

to  each  other.     This  reply  was  read  by  the  Committee  on  19th 

March,      v.     A.P.C.     III.      No.     132.]      Continue:— We     doe 

admit  there  have  been  several  tracts  of  land  granted  to  the 


60  COLONIAL   PAPERS. 

1728. 

Proprietors  and  others  by  virtue  of  the  powers  given  to  them 
by  their  Charter,  the  particulars  of  which  from  1713  are  : — 
1714.  One  grant  of  all  minerals  (excepting  Royal  mines) 
and  one  for  making  of  oyl  from  the  nuts  of  Carolina,  both 
which  were  to  be  void,  if  not  undertaken  and  attempted  within 
three  [?  years]  after  the  date,  and  now  consequently  void. 
A  grant  of  500  acres  to  the  Rev.  Mr.  Johnston,  reserving  the 
usual  quit-rents,  which  we  beleive  was  not  set  out  he  being 
since  dead.  1715.  5000  acres  to  Mr.  Hodgson,  reserving 
usual  quit-rents,  never  set  out  as  we  know  of.  1716.  A 
grant  to  Mr.  Churchy  and  Swartz  for  wrecks  within  the  limits 
of  the  Lords  patent,  reserving  5  p.c.  out  of  the  net  profits, 
which  project  was  never  entred  upon.  1719.  Sir  Robert 
Montgomery  had  a  grant  of  a  great  tract  of  land  between  the 
Rivers  Savanna  and  Alatamaha  at  a  quit  rent  of  a  penny  an 
acre  yearly,  as  it  should  be  settled,  with  the  reservation  that 
the  Proprietors  might  re-enter  if  Sir  Robert  his  heirs  etc.  should 
not  begin  the  settling  for  3  years.  500  acres  of  land  to  Revd. 
Mr.  Allsop.  He  dyd  and  it  was  never  taken  up.  Altho'  in 
1713  no  lands  were  ordered  or  lay'd  out  for  the  Lds. 
Proprietors  either  in  S.  or  N.  Carolina,  yet  in  '18  and  '19  there 
were  several  Baronies  lay'd  out  for  the  use  of  the  Lords 
Proprietors,  etc.,  they  judging  this  method  might  tend  to  the 
better  peopling  the  Province  by  engaging  the  Proprietors 
separately  to  cultivate  and  improve  their  own  lands,  but  by 
reason  of  the  disorders  of  the  Colony,  these  lands  were  never 
entred  upon,  except  one  Barony  by  Sir  John  Colleton's  son,  who 
went  over  above  a  year  since  to  settle  the  same.  1722.  12,000 
acres  were  granted  to  the  Secretary  Mr.  Shelton  as  a  gratification 
for  his  many  years  services,  but  not  yet  set  out.  1724,  5. 
12,000  acres  to  Mr.  Purey  upon  condition  that  he  should 
transport  300  people  within  a  year,  and  a  farther  agreement 
was  made  with  Vats  and  Pury  for  two  Baronies  in  considera- 
tion they  should  transport  1200  Switz  into  the  Province  at 
their  own  charge,  which  they  are  not  able  to  perform.  But 
the  consideration  of  this  affair  being  recommended  to  the 
Proptrs.  by  the  Duke  of  Newcastle  and  the  Lds.  Com- 
missioners of  the  Plantations,  the  Proptrs  did  propose  at 
their  own  charge  to  have  paid  the  passage  of  300  Protestant 
Switz,  in  case  they  could  give  security  to  settle  upon  the 
Savanna  river,  for  the  greater  safety  of  the  infant  Colony  at 
Port  Royal,  but  this  was  never  done.  1726.  Four  barony s 
of  12,000  acres  each  were  granted  to  Mr.  Thomas  Lowndes 
and  three  other  persons  in  consideration  of  his  services  for  the 
common  good  of  the  Province  and  of  the  surrender  of  a  former 
grant  of  48,000  acres  (which  upon  examination  appeared  never 
to  have  been  set  out)  which  deeds  were  inrolled  in  H.M.  Court 
of  Common  Pleas.  A  warrant  was  granted  to  Col.  Samuel 
Horsey  for  a  Landgraveship  with  four  baronies  thereunto 


AMERICA   AND   WEST   INDIES.  61 

1728. 

annexed,  and  a  patent  was  ordered  for  the  same,  but  not  taken 
out  by  him,  by  reason  of  the  unsetled  state  of  the  Province. 
1727.  A  grant  of  1000  acres  of  land  at  a  quit  rent  of  a  penny 
per  acre  to  commence  three  years  after  the  date  was  made 
to  one  Tayler  of  Ireland,  who  went  over  with  above  30  white 
people  to  settle  there.  North  Carolina.  1723.  A  grant  was 
made  to  Mr.  Burrington  for  2000  acres  upon  his  being  appointed 
Governor  of  North  Carolina  ;  which  he  refusing  to  accept, 
we  look  upon  that  to  be  void.  1724.  2000  acres  were  granted 
to  Sir  Richard  Everard,  when  he  was  appointed  Governor, 
reserving  the  usual  quit-rents,  and  we  are  informed  this  has 
been  set  out  accordingly.  1727.  3000  acres  were  granted 
to  my  Lady  Everard  at  the  usual  quit-rents,  upon  her  going 
over  with  her  family  to  settle  there,  who  went  about  May 
last.  These  are  all  that  ever  were  granted  by  the  Proprietors 
since  1713.  And  if  we  have  not  given  your  Lordships  a  more 
exact  account  of  the  conditions  upon  which  they  were  granted 
and  the  place  where  they  are  to  be  set  out,  it  is  for  want  of  a 
proper  register  etc.  Nor  could  we  obtain  a  true  rent  roll  of 
our  lands  which  occasioned  our  presenting  a  petition  to  his 
late  Majestic  praying  that  he  would  be  graciously  pleased  to 
direct  his  provisional  Governor  to  cause  a  Register  to  be  made 
of  all  the  lands  granted,  and  upon  what  terms — in  order  to 
know  how  to  settle  the  remaining  uncultivated  lands  in  such 
manner  as  might  conduce  to  the  publick  good.  In  answer  to 
the  last  of  your  Lordps'.  queries,  we  doe  admit  that  the 
Proptrs.  did  shut  up  their  office  for  the  sale  of  their  lands 
in  Carolina  in  1719,  when  Mr.  Johnson  suffered  himself  to  be 
deposed  ;  which  we  humbly  apprehend  was  not  only  prudent 
but  justifiable,  the  Proptrs'.  predecessors  having  at  their 
first  entring  upon  the  execution  of  their  Charter  made  grants 
of  large  tracts  of  lands  to  several  persons  who  proposed  to 
settle  at  a  very  small  quit-rent  there,  or  only  a  peper  corn 
yearly,  in  expectation  that  the  grantees  of  such  lands  would 
have  been  induced  to  settle  them,  and  thereby  increase  the 
number  of  inhabitants.  But  as  we  are  informed  there  is  not 
a  sixth  part  of  the  land  so  granted  as  yet  settled  by  anybody, 
we  conceive  such  lands  may  be  re-entered  upon  etc.  The 
Proprietors  were  always  ready  at  their  office  in  London  to  grant 
their  unsetled  lands  at  a  moderate  quit-rent,  not  exceeding 
one  penny  per  acre  yearly  to  any  persons  who  with  an  intention 
to  settle  there  would  have  apply 'd  to  them  ;  and  they  were 
ready  to  receive  and  comply  with  any  reasonable  proposal  of 
that  kind  from  the  country's  agent  Mr.  Yong,  notwithstanding 
his  known  ingratitude  to  the  Proprietors  whose  Surveyor 
General  he  was  for  many  years  ;  but  absented  himself  from  the 
Province,  and  his  duty  without  their  leave  and  consent  etc. 
By  the  clause  in  our  last  petition  etc.  (v.  5th  March,  proposing 
surrender  of  sovereignty  and  interest)  we  mean  and  intend  to 


62 


COLONIAL   PAPERS. 


March  19. 


1728. 

surrender  to  H.M.  our  right  and  title  to  all  our  lands  not  entred 
upon  and  improved,  as  well  the  baronies  and  lands  granted  to 
each  of  us,  as  proprietors,  as  also  other  our  lands  whatsoever 
in  the  Province  of  Carolina,  desiring  that  in  drawing  the  deed 
of  surrender,  they  may  be  as  fully  convey'd,  and  vested  in  the 
Crown,  as  we  are  capable  of  doing  it  without  any  restriction 
or  reserve.  Signed,  D.  of  Beaufort,  Ld.  Craven,  James  Bertie, 
H.  Bertie,  J.  Colleton.  [C.O.  5,  290.  pp.  259-266.] 

116.  Mr.  Meure  to  Mr.  Popple.  Encloses  proofs  to  support 
Mr.  Mathew's  answer  to  the  Address  against  him.  Continues  : — 
I  expect  (by  the  first  ships)  an  approbation  (honourable  to  Mr. 
Mathew)  from  the  present  Assembly  of  all  the  vouchers  and 
accounts  complained  of  in  the  sd.  Address  as  not  deliver'd 
to  ye  Assembly,  tho'  the  contrary  is  evident  by  the  Minutes  of 
Council,  etc.  Signed,  Abr.  Meure.  Endorsed,  Reed.  20th, 
Read  21st  March,  172f.  1|  pp.  Enclosed, 

116.  i.  Minutes  of  Council  of  St.  Christophers,  5th  March, 
1726,  recording  the  reconciliation  of  Governor  Hart 
and  Lt.  General  Mathew.  Endorsed,  Reed.  20th 
March,  172|.  Copy,  f  p. 

116.  ii.  Minutes  of  Council  and  Assembly  and  papers  relating 
to  Lt.  Genl.  Mathew's  accounts  for  fortifying 
Brimstone  Hill.  Endorsed  as  preceding.  20  large  pp. 
116.  iii.  Deposition  of  Nathan  Crosley  as  to  Lt.  Genl. 
Mathew's  trouble  and  expense  in  fortifying  Brimstone 
Hill.  22nd  May,  1727.  Signed,  Nathan  Crosley. 
Same  endorsement.  I  p. 

116.  iv.  Deposition  of  N.  Crosley  as  to  Lt.  Genl.  Mathew's 
interview  with  the  Committee  of  Accounts  etc.  22nd 
April,  1727.  Signed,  Nathan  Crosley.  1  p. 

116.  v.  Deposition    of   John    Harris,    confirming    preceding. 

21st  April,  1727.  Signed,  Jo.  Harris.  Endorsed, 
Reed.  March  20,  172$.  1  large  p.  [C.O.  152,  16. 
ff.  170,  I70v.,  I7lv.,  172,  173u.-183z;.,  184i;.,  185*;., 
1860-187x>.] 

March  20.  117.  Mr.  Beake  to  Mr.  Popple.  Is  unable  to  attend  the 
Board  owing  to  illness.  Encloses  following  papers  and  awaits 
further  instructions  from  St.  Kitts  etc.  Prays  that  several 
Acts  of  St.  Kitts  may  be  reported  on  etc.  Signed,  T.  Beake. 
Endorsed,  Reed.  20th,  Read  21st  March,  172$.  1  p.  Enclosed, 

117.  i.  Thomas  Butler  to  Thomas  Beake,  St.  Christophers, 

7th  Sept.,  1726.  Encloses  duplicate  of  Address  of 
Assembly  sent  in  April  last,  and  expresses  concern 
at  not  having  heard  of  its  being  laid  before  the  King 
etc.  Signed,  Tho.  Butler.  Copy.  1  p. 

117.  ii.  Mr.  Spooner,  Speaker  of  Assembly,  St.  Christophers 
to  Mr.  Beake.  St.  Christophers.  June  30,  1727.  Is 
not  yet  able  to  send  proofs  of  the  allegations  in  the 


AMERICA   AND   WEST   INDIES.  63 

1728. 

Address  of  Assembly  relating  to  Lt.  General  Mathew 
etc.,  he  not  having  called  the  Assembly  together  since 
Genl.  Hart  went  away  etc.  Signed,  J.  Spooner.  If 
closely  written  pp. 

117.  iii.  Minutes  of  Council  and  Assembly  of  St.  Christophers 
relating  to  Lt.  Genl.  Mathew's  accounts  etc.  16th 
April—  18th  May,  1726.  Copy.  1  p. 

117.  iv.  Affidavit  of  John  Griffes,  Clerk  of  the  Assembly, 
that  enclosed  papers  are  true  copies  etc.  and  as  to 
proceedings  of  Assembly.  8th  Aug.  1727.  Signed, 
John  Griffes.  1  p. 

117.  v.  Minutes  of  Assembly,  9th  Oct.  1725—  Feb.  19,  1726, 
relating  to  Lt.  Genl.  Mathew's  accounts.  5  pp. 
[C.O.  152,  16.  ff.  160,  161,  162,  162*;.,  163i>.,  164i;., 
.,  I67v.,  168i>.-169z;.] 


March  20.  118.  Council  of  Trade  and  Plantations  to  the  King.  In 
Whitehall,  obedience  to  Order  of  15th  March,  report  upon  Admiralty 
Memorial  relating  to  the  destruction  of  H.M.  woods  etc.  and 
encouragement  of  Naval  Stores.  It  is  with  great  pleasure, 
that  we  observe  upon  this  occasion  the  conformity  between 
the  opinion  of  the  Lords  of  the  Admiralty,  and  that  of  this 
Board  upon  this  important  subject.  We  have  always  thought, 
that  nothing  can  be  of  greater  consequence  to  your  Majesty's 
service,  and  the  welfare  of  this  Kingdom,  than  the  preservation 
of  your  Majesty's  woods  in  America,  and  the  importing  of 
timber,  and  all  sorts  of  Naval  Stores,  directly  from  your 
Majesty's  Plantations  to  Great  Britain  ;  and  we  have  often 
represented  the  same  in  several  reports  to  the  Crown.  This 
matter  being  again  referred  to  us  by  your  Majesty's  Order  ; 
we  have  perused  our  former  reports  and  discoursed  with  some 
persons  who  were  formerly  Governors  of  your  Majesty's 
Colonies,  with  sevl.  merchants  concerned  in  the  importation 
of  Naval  Stores,  and  likewise  with  the  Commissioners  of  your 
Majesty's  Navy,  that  we  might  be  the  better  able  to  offer  the 
proper  means  for  preserving  your  Majesty's  woods,  and  for 
encouraging  the  raising  and  improvement  of  Naval  Stores  in 
America  :  Whereupon  we  humbly  take  leave  to  represent  to 
your  Majesty  that  by  the  Charter  granted  to  the  Massachusets 
Bay,  "  all  trees  of  the  diameter  of  24  inches  and  upwards  at 
12  inches  from  the  ground  growing  upon  any  soil  or  tract  of 
land  in  the  said  Province,  not  heretofore  granted  to  any  private 
person  "  were  reserved  for  the  use  of  the  Crown.  But  this 
reservation  hath  been  entirely  destroy'd  by  ye  construction, 
which  the  people  of  New  England  put  upon  a  clause  in  an 
Act  passed  in  the  8th  year  of  His  late  Majesty's  reign,  giving 
further  encouragement  for  the  importation  of  Naval  Stores  etc., 
whereby  it  is  enacted  for  the  preservation  of  white  pine  trees, 
for  the  masting  the  Royal  Navy,  that  no  person  shall  fell,  cut 


64  COLONIAL   PAPERS. 

1728. 

or  destroy  any  white  pine  trees  not  growing  in  any  township 
or  the  bounds  thereof  etc.  The  construction  the  inhabitants 
of  the  Massachusets  Bay  put  upon  this  clause  is,  that  your 
Majesty  has  no  property  in  any  trees  growing  in  any  township 
or  ye  bounds  thereof,  and  consequently  that  the  Surveyor 
General  of  the  woods  hath  no  power  to  prevent  the  people 
from  cutting  them,  for  their  own  use.  The  inhabitants  of 
New  Hampshire  having  interpreted  this  Act  of  Parliament 
in  the  same  manner,  have  got  the  greatest  part  of  their  Colony 
granted  out  into  townships,  by  which  means,  unless  a  remedy 
be  speedily  apply'd,  your  Majesty  will  be  deprived  of  the 
benefit  of  any  masts  growing  either  in  the  Massachusets  Bay 
or  New  Hampshire.  This  we  take  to  be  the  chief  cause  at 
present,  of  the  destruction  of  your  Majesty's  woods  in  those 
Provinces,  which  in  our  humble  opinion  can  only  be  prevented 
by  Act  of  Parliament,  and  we  did  some  years  ago  present  a 
Bill  to  the  House  of  Commons  for  this  purpose,  as  likewise 
to  incourage  the  importation  of  Naval  Stores,  which  had  not 
then  the  desired  effect.  This  Board  has  also  ever  been  of 
opinion  that  it  would  be  necessary  for  your  Majesty's  service, 
that  the  Surveyr.  of  your  Majesty's  woods  should  constantly 
reside  in  some  of  your  Majesty's  Plantatns.  on  the  Continent 
of  America  ;  and  that  the  respective  Governors  thereof,  should 
be  directed  to  be  aiding  and  assisting  to  the  said  Surveyor  in 
the  execution  of  his  duty.  But,  as  it  is  impossible  that  one 
man  alone  should  be  able  fully  to  discharge  his  duty  to  your 
Majesty  in  so  extended  a  trust  without  proper  assistants  ;  in 
our  humble  opinion  it  would  be  for  your  Majesty's  service  that 
the  said  Surveyor  should  be  allow'd  two  or  more  Deputies, 
with  competent  salaries,  for  their  subsistance,  and  that  those 
Deputies  should  be  ship  carpenters  by  professions  conversant 
in  the  use  and  value  of  timber.  These  methods  would  probably 
contribute  towards  the  redress  of  so  great  an  evil  as  the 
destruction  of  your  Majesty's  woods,  and  therefore  should  by 
no  means  be  neglected.  But  even  these  we  have  reason  to 
apprehend  will  not  be  entirely  effectual ;  for  altho'  the 
reservation  of  timber  of  certain  scantlings  for  your  Majesty's 
service,  is  already  expressly  made  by  many  Acts  of  Parliament 
now  in  force  :  yet  the  trees  in  the  Massachusets  Bay  and  New 
Hampshire  being  for  the  most  part  intermixt  with  private 
property,  and  the  interest  of  the  inhabitants  in  this  particular, 
being  opposed  to  that  of  the  publick,  it  has  by  long  experience 
been  found  impracticable,  to  put  the  laws  in  execution  in  their 
ordinary  course  and  therefore  the  adjudication  of  this  matter 
has  by  subsequent  laws  been  placed  in  the  Admiralty  instead 
of  the  Common  Law  Courts,  it  being  impossible  to  find  a  Jury 
that  would  do  justice  to  ye  Crown  in  this  particular.  Upon 
this  footing  the  Law  already  stands  with  respect  to  your 
Majesty's  woods,  notwithstanding  the  repeated  complaints, 


AMERICA   AND   WEST   INDIES.  65 

1728. 

which  we  have  received,  and  as  often  reported  concerning  the 
destruction  made  in  them  ;  and  therefore  when  this  Board 
was  directed  to  draw  up  Instructions  for  Col.  Philips  your 
Majty.'s  Governor  of  Nova  Scotia,  in  order  to  secure  a  lasting 
store  of  timber  for  the  service  of  the  Royal  Navy  in  all  times 
to  come  free  from  contest  and  intermixture  of  property  they 
took  care  to  insert  an  Article,  wherein  it  was  provided, 
"  That  certain  tracts  of  land  found  upon  survey  to  be  most 
proper  for  producing  of  masts  and  other  timber  for  the  use  of 
the  Royal  Navy  and  lying  contiguous  to  the  sea  coast  or 
navigable  rivers  should  be  reserved  for  your  Majesty's  service  "  ; 
and  the  Governor  was  forbid  to  make  any  grants  of  land,  till 
such  tracts  should  have  been  marked  out  and  set  apart  for  your 
Majesty's  use  not  amounting  to  less  than  200,000  acres  etc. 
And  as  we  conceive  this  to  be  a  matter  of  very  great  consequence 
to  your  Majesty's  service,  we  would  humbly  propose  that  the 
Surveyor  General  of  your  Majesty's  woods  may  be  directed, 
without  loss  of  time,  to  proceed  to  Nova  Scotia  and  to  execute 
your  Majesty's  Orders  in  this  particular.  It  would  certainly 
be  of  great  advantage  to  these  Kingdoms  that  we  should  from 
time  to  time  receive  such  supplies  of  Naval  Stores  from  your 
Majesty's  American  Colonies  as  might  render  us  independant 
of  our  Northern  neighbours,  in  an  article  so  highly  important 
to  the  defence,  the  Trade  and  Navigation  of  Great  Britain. 
This  Board  has  therefore  on  all  proper  occasions  urged  the 
necessity  of  this  proposition,  and  the  Legislature  have  likewise 
at  different  times,  made  the  same  the  subject  of  their  con- 
sideration. From  hence  the  several  Acts  have  taken  rise 
which  heretofore  gave  praemiums  on  the  importation  of  Naval 
Stores  from  the  British  Colonies  in  America,  which  Acts  have 
been  attended  with  very  good  consequences,  inasmuch  as  they 
have  greatly  reduced  the  price  of  some  Naval  Stores,  particularly 
of  pitch  and  tar.  But  the  said  praemiums  are  now  all  expired, 
except  only  such  as  relate  to  hemp.  And  we  are  humbly  of 
opinion  it  may  be  necessary  to  renew  them,  tho'  not  in  the 
same  degree.  By  an  Act  passed  in  the  3rd  and  4th  of  Queen 
Ann,  the  praemiums  given  upon  Naval  Stores  were,  for  pitch 
and  tar  £4,  pr.  ton,  rozin  and  turpentine  £3,  masts  and  yards 
and  bowsprits  £l,  hemp,  £6,  to  continue  9  years  ;  and  by 
another  Act  passed  in  the  12th  year  of  the  Queen  they  were 
continued  for  11  years  longer.  By  an  Act  passed  in  the  8th 
year  of  His  late  Majesty's  reign,  the  praemium  given  upon 
hemp  was  further  continued  for  the  space  of  16  years,  and 
from  thence  to  the  end  of  the  next  Session  of  Parliament  which 
will  expire  about  the  year  1741.  But  the  praemuims  on  all 
other  Naval  Stores  did  expire  in  Janry.,  1725/6.  By  the 
last  mentioned  Act,  there  was  a  particular  manner  pre- 
scribed to  prepare  trees  for  the  making  of  tar.  and  it  was  then 
intended  that  no  praemiums  should  be  given  on  any  tar  but 

C,P.  XXXVI— 5 


66  COLONIAL   PAPERS. 

1728. 

such  as  should  be  made  from  trees  prepared  after  the  method 
prescribed.  And  in  the  Bill  which  was  offered  to  the  House 
of  Commons  about  4  years  since  for  encouraging  the  importation 
of  Naval  Stores  from  the  British  Plantations  in  America, 
and  for  the  better  preservation  of  timber  there,  for  the  use 
of  H.M.  Navy,  it  was  thought  proper  to  have  so  much  regard 
to  this  new  method  as  to  give  some  additional  encouragement 
more  than  in  ye  common  way  of  making  tar,  to  induce  ye 
planters  to  fall  into  the  practice.  But  as  we  are  informed  by 
several  persons  concerned  in  making  and  importing  of  tar, 
this  way  has  been  attempted  without  success  and  is  so  far 
despaired  of  that  they  are  apprehensive  if  this  restriction 
should  be  made  general  it  would  in  effect  prevent  the 
importation  of  any  quantities  of  tar  from  your  Majesty's 
Plantations  and  consequently  make  us  again  dependant  upon 
the  Northern  Crowns  for  supplies  of  this  material  branch  of 
Naval  Stores  :  we  are  of  opinion,  in  case  it  should  be  thought 
fit,  that  praemiums  be  continued  upon  tar  imported  from  your 
Majesty's  Plantations,  that  all  tar  clean,  good  merchantable, 
well  conditioned,  clear  of  drops  or  water,  and  fit  in  every 
respect  for  making  cordage  should  be  entituled  to  the  praemium 
hereafter  specify'd,  and  that  an  additional  encouragement 
should  likewise  be  given  to  engage  the  Planters  if  possible,  to 
make  tar  in  this  new  method,  which  we  have  reason  to  believe 
is  the  practise  in  Sweden,  tho'  it  may  not  hitherto  have  been 
found  practicable  in  America.  We  have  discoursed  with 
planters,  merchants  importers,  and  likewise  with  the  Com- 
missioners of  your  Majesty's  Navy  upon  praemiums  for  Naval 
Stores,  who  differ  very  much  upon  this  subject ;  the  planters 
and  merchants  importers  insist  that  the  premiums  should  be 
upon  tar  and  pitch  and  turpentine  £3  pr.  ton  and  masts,  yards 
and  bowsprits  £1.  The  Commissioners  of  your  Majesty's  Navy 
are  of  opinion,  that  it  will  be  sufficient  to  allow,  upon  pitch 
and  tar  £2,  turpentine  £l  10*.  Od.,  masts,  yards  and  bowsprits 
17*.  3d.  What  would  seem  to  us  reasonable  is,  that  a 
competent  allowance  should  be  made  to  the  planter  in  con- 
sideration of  the  price  of  labour  and  freight  in  America  so  far 
as  they  exceed  the  rates  paid  in  the  East  Country  ;  and  the 
merchants  state  this  account  in  the  following  manner  vizt., 
tar  made  in  Finland,  pr.  barrel,  first  cost  4*.,  freight  about  4*., 
leakage  1/6,  wharfage  etc.  1/6,  =  11/0.  Tar  made  in  the 
Plantations  pr.  barrel,  first  cost  7/s.,  freight  in  time  of  peace 
8/s.,  leakage  1/6,  wharfage  etc.  1/6=18/5.  By  this  account 
the  praemium  upon  tar  would  be  7/s.  pr.  barrel  and  the  merchants 
think  the  same  prasmium  necessary  for  pitch.  But  the  Com- 
missioners of  the  Navy  are  of  opinion,  the  article  of  freight 
from  the  East  Country  is  one  shilling  undercharged  by  the 
merchants,  that  from  the  Plantations  6d.  overcharged  ;  taking 
therefore  the  account  with  this  alteration,  the  praemiums  upon 


AMERICA   AND   WEST   INDIES.  67 

1728. 

pitch  and  tar  would  be  5*.  6d.  pr.  barrel.  As  to  turpentine 
very  little  encouragement  will  be  necessary  because  no 
quantities  of  turpentine  are  imported  from  any  other  place 
but  from  your  Majesty's  Plantations  :  And  therefore  we  agree 
with  the  Commissioners  of  the  Navy  in  this  Article  that  is  to 
say  that  a  praemium  of  30*.  pr.  ton  may  be  allowed  upon  every 
ton  of  turpentine  imported  from  the  Plantations,  which  will 
be  little  more  than  the  duty  payable  upon  importation,  which 
amounts  to  £l  Ss.  Qd.  The  praemium  originally  upon  masts, 
yards  and  bowsprits  was  205.  pr.  ton,  but  there  was  then  a 
duty  of  25.  9d.  pr.  ton  payable  on  their  importation,  which 
hath  since  been  taken  off  ;  and  therefore  175.  3d.  will  now  be 
sufficient  encouragement  on  this  head.  But  the  merchants 
complain  that  these  praemiums  have  never  been  regularly  paid, 
that  the  bills  now  made  out  for  them  are  always  at  a  discount, 
and  therefore  desire  that  they  may  hereafter  be  made  payable 
in  the  new  course  of  the  Navy,  which  we  think  reasonable 
and  might  be  some  recompence  for  the  diminution  in  the 
prasmiums.  In  the  foregoing  computation  we  have  omitted 
the  article  of  hemp,  the  praemium  on  that  head  being  sufficient, 
and  in  force  for  about  13  years  to  come  ;  as  likewise  rozin, 
it  not  being  necessary  to  give  any  farther  praemium  for  that 
commodity,  because  rozin  is  made  here  from  turpentine  imported 
from  the  Plantations.  There  is  another  Article  of  Naval 
Stores  very  much  wanted,  and  purchased  from  our  neighbours 
at  a  great  expence,  this  Kingdom  being  annually  obliged  to 
import  about  20,000  tons  of  iron  from  Foreign  Countries  for 
the  most  part  bought  with  ready  money  :  And  there  have  been 
certain  periods  of  time  particularly  during  our  last  difference 
with  Sweden  when  the  want  of  this  commodity  was  found 
very  inconvenient  to  the  publick.  Since  therefore  your  Majesty 
is  taking  into  your  Royal  consideration  the  necessary  incourage- 
ment s  for  importing  of  Naval  Stores  in  genl.  we  thought  it 
our  duty  to  mention  this  among  the  rest,  because  there  is 
great  plenty  of  iron  ore  to  be  found  in  your  Majesty's  Planta- 
tions in  America,  where  wood  for  the  furnaces  likewise  abounds. 
A  Bill  formerly  passed  the  House  of  Commons  wherein  the 
incouragement  proposed  for  importing  iron  in  pigs  and  sows 
from  America  was  the  taking  off  the  duty  payable  upon  the 
importation  of  that  commodity  which  amounts  to  3s./9^d. 
pr.  ton  ;  and  the  same  incouragement  would  in  our  opinion 
engage  the  planters  to  furnish  us  with  sufficient  quantities  of 
iron  to  supply  our  manufacturers.  These  being  our  sentiments 
concerning  the  methods  for  the  preservation  of  your  Majesty's 
woods,  and  the  encouragement  for  the  importation  of  Naval 
Stores  from  your  Majesty's  Colonies  in  America  ;  we  have 
prepared  the  draught  of  a  bill  agreeable  thereunto  ;  which 
we  take  leave  to  transmit,  together  with  this  our  report,  that 
in  case  our  opinion  should  meet  with  your  Majesty's  Royal 


68  COLONIAL   PAPERS. 

1728. 

approbation,  no  time  might  be  lost  in  putting  your  Majesty's 
commands  concerning  the  same  in  execution.  But  as  we 
conceive  it  is  not  reasonable  that  prsemiums  should  be  given 
upon  any  Naval  Stores,  but  such  as  are  actually  employed  at 
home  for  the  service  of  the  British  Navigation,  we  would 
humbly  submit  to  your  Majesty,  whether  it  may  not  be  proper 
before  this  Bill  be  offered  to  the  House  of  Commons,  that  a 
clause  should  be  prepared  to  provide  that  upon  the  re-exporta- 
tion of  Naval  Stores  which  received  praemiums,  the  sd. 
premiums  or  an  equivalent  for  them,  should  be  repaid  to  the 
publick.  Annexed, 

118.  i.  Draught  of  an  Act  for  the  better  and  more  effectual 
preservation  of  H.M.  woods  in  America,  and  for 
encouraging  the  importation  of  Naval  Stores  from 
thence.  [C.O.  324,  11.  pp.  65-97.] 

March  20.  119.  Governor  Hunter  to  Mr.  Stanyan.  The  storeship 
Jamaica.  jjas  arrived  "  in  twelve  weeks  three  days  from  the  Downs. 
She  comes  in  good  time  for  this  squadron,  wch.  wants  rigging 
and  stores  much.  Mr.  Hopson  with  all  the  squadron  except 
the  Berwick,  and  Capt.  Anstey's  ship,  is  still  on  ye  coast  "  etc. 
Our  sloops  from  that  coast  tell  me  the  galleons  are  all  there 
(at  Cartagena)  safe  enough  tho'  not  very  sound  ;  their  cargo 
at  Panama.  I  can  say  nothing  of  our  publick  affairs  till  the 
Assembly  has  mett,  which  will  fall  out  to-morrow  seven  night. 
All  is  pretty  serene  and  quiet  here  at  present,  except  some 
disturbances  from  remote  places  from  the  wild  negroes.  Send 
me  your  resolution  as  to  Mr.  Bowerman's  offers  in  relation 
to  Mr.  Coleman's  affaire,  and  some  of  your  spare  newspapers. 
If  I  could  be  of  any  use  here  to  you  or  any  you  are  concerned 
for,  it  would  be  matter  of  satisfaction  to  me  etc.  P.S.  My 
most  humble  duty  to  his  Grace  etc.  Signed,  Ro.  Hunter. 
Endorsed,  Rd.  May  31st.  Holograph.  2  pp.  [C.O.  137,  53. 
//.  26,  200.,  27w.] 

March  20.       120.     Council   of  Trade   and   Plantations   to   the   Duke   of 
Whitehall.     Newcastle.     Enclose     following     to     be     laid     before     H.M. 
Autograph  signatures.     1  p.     Enclosed, 

120.  i.  Petition  of  Majority  of  Assembly  of  Barbados  to 
the  King.  Duplicate  of  No.  6  i.  [C.O.  28, 
39.  Nos.  42,  42.i  ;  and  (without  enclosure)  29,  14. 
p.  439.] 

[Mar.  20.]       121.     Proceedings   of  Court   of  Chancery,    Barbados,    May 
17,   1727— March  20,   1728.     12  pp.     [C.O.   33,   27.     No.   10.] 

March  20.        122.     Council   of  Trade   and   Plantations   to   the   Duke   of 
Whitehall.     Newcastle.     Enclose    following   to    be    laid    before   the    King. 
Annexed, 


AMERICA   AND   WEST   INDIES.  69 

1728. 

122.  i.  Same  to  the  King.  We  humbly  lay  before  your 
Majesty  enclosed  draught  of  Instructions  for  Governor 
of  New  Hampshire  (No.  iv)  with  some  few  alterations 
and  our  reasons  for  the  same.  There  being  two 
vacancies  in  your  Majesty's  Council  of  New  Hampshire 
by  the  death  of  Mr.  Vaughan  and  Mr.  Penhallow, 
we  have  inserted  the  names  of  Henry  Sherburn,  and 
of  Saml.  Penhallow  Esqrs.  to  supply  the  said  vacancies 
etc.  We  have  added  the  30th  Article  requiring  the 
Assembly  to  settle  upon  Mr.  Burnet  a  sallary  of 
£200  pr.  annum,  in  pursuance  of  your  Majesty's 
Order  in  Council,  15th  Feb.  We  have  omitted  the 
72nd  Article  of  Collo.  Shute's  Instructions  directing 
him  to  endeavour  to  get  a  law  past  for  restraining 
of  inhuman  severities  towards  servants  and  slaves, 
a  law  having  been  passed  for  that  purpose.  We 
have  made  no  other  alteration  or  addition  to  these 
draughts,  except,  what  your  Majesty  has  already 
approved  in  your  Instructions  to  the  Earl  of  Orkney, 
Governor  of  Virginia.  Annexed, 

122.  ii.  Same  to  Same.  Lay  before  H.M.  enclosed  draught 
of  Instructions  for  Governor  of  the  Massachusets 
Bay.  Continue  : — We  have  added  the  23rd  Article, 
requiring  the  Assembly  to  settle  upon  Mr.  Burnet, 
a  salary  of  £1000  pr.  annum,  in  pursuance  of  your 
Majesty's  Order  in  Council,  15th  Feb.  We  have 
omitted  the  68th  Instruction  formerly  given  to  Colo. 
Shute,  in  relation  to  the  qualification  of  jurors,  it 
being  now  provided  for,  by  the  laws  of  that  Province. 
We  have  left  out  the  latter  part  of  the  44th  Instruction, 
obliging  the  planters  to  keep  a  certain  number  of 
white  servants  ;  but  there  being  very  few,  if  any 
negroes  in  the  Province,  we  think  it  more  properly 
omitted.  There  having  been  no  stores  of  war  sent 
from  the  Office  of  Ordnance  here,  to  the  Massachusets 
Bay  for  several  years  past,  and  the  fort  at  Pemaquid 
being  of  no  use  since  the  Province  of  Nova  Scotia  has 
been  yeilded  up  to  the  Crown  of  Great  Britain,  we 
have  omitted  part  of  the  58th  Instruction  in  relation 
thereto.  We  have  altered  Colo.  Shute's  40th 
Instruction  in  relation  to  the  appointment  of  an 
Attorney  Genl.  and  expressed  Mr.  Burnet 's  70th 
upon  the  same  subject  in  such  terms,  as  may 
prevent  the  General  Court,  from  taking  upon  them 
to  nominate  the  Attorney  Genl.  as  they  have  some- 
times done,  altho'  the  naming  that  officer  is 
undoubtedly  your  Majesty's  right.  Concludes  as 
preceding. 


70 


COLONIAL   PAPERS. 


1728. 

122.  iii.  Draught  of  H.M.  Instructions  for  William  Burnet, 
Governor  of  the  Massachusets  Bay,  together  with 
Instructions  relating  particularly  to  the  Acts  of 
Trade  and  Navigation.  St.  James,  28th  March,  1728. 

122.  iv.  Draught  of  H.M.  Instructions  to  William  Burnet, 
Governor  of  New  Hampshire,  together  with  In- 
structions relating  particularly  to  the  Acts  of  Trade 
and  Navigation.  St.  James's.  28th  March,  1728. 
[C.O.  5,  916.  pp.  62-165.] 

March  21.       123.     Order  of  King  in  Council.     Referring  to  Committee 
st.  James's,    draughts  of  Governor  Burnet's  Instructions.     Signed,  Edward 

Southwell.     Endorsed,    Reed.    29th,    Read    30th    April,    1728. 

I%pp.     [C.O.  5,  870.     ff.  61,  61u.,  62u.] 

March  21.       124.     Order  of  King  in  Council.     Approving  report  of  7th 

st.  James's.    March,    and    restoring    Samuel    Barwick    to    the    Council    of 

Barbados.      Signed,     Edward    Southwell.      Endorsed,    Reed., 

Read  12th  April,  1728.     2J  pp.     [C.O.  28,  19.     ff.  176-177i;.] 

March  21.  125.  Mr.  Meure  to  [?  Mr.  Delafaye].  Encloses  application 
from  Lt.  General  Mathew  for  H.M.  leave  of  absence  for  six 
months  etc.  Concludes : — Mr.  Mathew  writes  that  the  sale 
of  the  French  lands  of  St.  Christophers  is  just  now  compleated. 
Signed,  Abraham  Meure,  of  Rose  Street  in  Soho.  2  pp.  [C.O. 
152,  43.  ff.  27,  27v.] 

March  21 .  1 26.  H.M.  Warrant  granting  licence  of  absence  to  Thomas 
st.  James's.  Windham,  Register  of  Chancery  and  Patents  in  Jamaica,  and 
to  exercise  his  office  by  deputy,  "  he  having  humbly  repre- 
sented to  us,  that  being  employed  in  Our  service  at  home, 
he  cannot  without  prejudice  thereto,  as  well  as  to  his  own 
private  affairs,  attend  the  said  office  in  person "  etc.  Cf. 
29th  Feb.,  1728.  Countersigned,  Holies  Newcastle.  [C.O. 
324,  36.  pp.  44,  45  ;  and  324,  50.  pp.  3,  4.] 

March  23.  127.  Governor  the  Earl  of  Londonderry  to  the  Council  of 
Trade  and  Plantations.  I  take  ye  liberty  to  acquaint  your 
Lordships  that  Collo.  Gamble  one  of  the  Counsell  of  Antegoa 
is  dead,  and  that  there  is  now  two  vacancys,  by  which  means 
both  Major  Thomas  and  Mr.  Carlile  might  be  brought  into  the 
Counsell  there,  if  it  meets  with  your  Lordships,  and  the  rest 
of  the  Lords  approbation,  etc.  Signed,  Londonderry.  Endorsed, 
Reed.,  Read  26th  March,  1728.  Holograph.  1  p.  [C.O.  152, 
16.  ff.  188,  189t;.] 

March  25.       128.     Lt.    General   Mathew   to   the   Council   of  Trade   and 

st.          Plantations.       Transmits    act    of    Antego,   for  encr easing   the 

3ra'  salary    of  the   present   Agent    etc.     Signed,    William    Mathew. 

Endorsed,   Reed.    27th   May,    1728,    Read   28th   March,    1729. 

1  p.     [C.O.  152,  17.    ff.  5,  Qv.] 


AMERICA  AND   WEST   INDIES. 


71 


1728. 

March  25.       1 29.     Petty  expences  of  the  Board  of  Trade  from  Christmas, 
1727  to  Lady  day,  1728.     6  pp.     [C.O.  388,  79.     Nos.  18-21.] 

[?  March  130.  Six  Lords  Proprietors  of  Carolina  to  the  Committee 
25  ?]  of  the  Privy  Council  for  the  Irish  bills  and  affairs  of  Carolina. 
Enclose  following  estimate  as  directed  March  19  (v.  A.P.C. 
III.  p.  174).  Continue  : — For  want  of  a  proper  Register  they 
cannot  offer  it  as  an  exact  account  of  their  arrears,  judging 
upon  a  strict  enquiry  much  more  will  be  found  due  to  them. 
They  therefore  propose  that  an  additional  sum  of  £5000  be  paid 
to  them  in  quittance  of  such  arrears  etc.  as  set  out,  A.P.C.  III. 
p.  176.  Pray  that  a  time  may  be  fixed  for  the  execution  of  the 
surrender  and  payment  of  the  mony  in  order  to  prevent  the 
great  damage  which  a  long  suspence  may  occasion  to  the 
inhabitants  and  the  Province  in  general  as  well  as  to  Memorialists 
in  particular,  who  would  be  ready  and  willing  to  close  with  some 
of  the  proposals  which  have  been  made  to  them  for  the  better 
setling  the  Province,  which  they  would  not  presume  to  engage 
in  till  H.M.  Royal  pleasure  is  known.  Signed,  Beaufort, 
Craven,  Ja.  Bertie,  Hen.  Bertie,  J.  Colleton,  Arch.  Hutcheson. 
Annexed, 

130.  i.  Estimate  of  arrears  due  to  the  Proprietors  of  North 
and  South  Carolina.  The  insurrection  in  South 
Carolina  which  began  about  1718  hath  not  only 
interrupted  all  manner  of  correspondence  between 
the  Proptrs.  and  that  province  ever  since,  but  also 
had  a  considerable  influence  upon  North  Carolina  ; 
and  the  Surveyors  General  having  neglected  their 
duty  and  made  no  return  as  they  ought  to  have 
done,  the  Proptrs.  have  no  rent  roll  and  conse- 
quently are  not  able  to  give  a  full  account  of  their 
arrears  due  to  them,  for  which  reason  they  begin 
their  demands  only  from  1719  inclusive  being  9 
years  arrears  which  may  be  computed  for  both 
Provinces  at  least  at  £800  pr.  annum  free  of  all 
charges  in  the  whole  amounting  to  £7,200.  Fines 
set  and  collected  in  Governor  Nicholson's  time  which 
belong  of  right  to  the  Proptrs.,  and  they  are 
informed  are  now  or  lately  were  in  the  hands  of  Messrs. 
Godin  and  Consiliere  of  S.  Carolina,  £500.  The 
tenths  upon  mines  proposed  to  be  wrought  of  which 
a  sample  of  the  oare  was  sent  over,  they  value  at 
£1000.  The  tenths  reserved  upon  the  whale  fishery 
in  North  Carolina  granted  four  years  ago  which 
according  to  the  account  received  must  have  been 
considerable,  valued  for  the  4  years  at  £800.  N.B. 
There  have  been  no  accounts  setled  between  the 
Proptrs.  and  their  Receivers  for  above  10  years 
before  1719  etc.  It  is  judged  that  if  those  accounts 


72  COLONIAL   PAPERS. 

1728. 

were  regularly  adjusted,  there  would  be  at  least 
£6000  more  due  to  the  Proprietors  etc.  About  £10.000 
sterling  per  annum  is  raised  in  South  Carolina  by 
dutys  upon  land  negroes  and  other  commoditys 
appropriated  for  defraying  the  expence  of  the 
Government  which  does  not  regularly  amount  to  half 
that  sum,  so  that  if  it  were  duly  collected,  and  apply'd 
it  would  not  only  supply  what  is  necessary  for  the 
support  of  the  Government  but  also  afford  an  overplus 
for  the  general  improvement  of  the  Province.  Account 
of  claims  upon  the  Proprietors : — To  the  Crown  for 
the  quit-rent  reserved  by  the  Charter,  about  £300  ; 
To  the  Secretary  for  his  arrears  and  disbursements, 
£1039  7*.  Id.  ;  To  the  Clerks,  £165  ;  To  Sollicitors, 
Attorneys,  Agents  etc.  for  9  years,  £620  ;  To  Judge 
Trot,  salary  for  two  years,  £200  ;  To  Mr.  Craven, 
money  advanced  for  the  public  service,  £200  ;  To 
ditto,  a  present  ordered  by  the  Proptrs.  upon  his 
not  returning  to  the  Government  in  consideration  of 
his  good  services  as  Governor  of  S.  Carolina  in 
defending  the  Province  and  repulsing  the  Indians, 
£1000  ;  To  Mr.  Johnson  for  arrears  of  salary  after 
the  people  refused  to  pay  their  quit  rents,  £400 ; 
To  house  rent  where  an  office  was  kept,  £400  ;  To 
extraordinary  charges  and  gratifications,  £500. 
Total,  £4824  7*.  Id.  Signed  as  preceding.  [C.O.  5, 
290.  pp.  267-272.] 

March  27.       131.     Council   of  Trade   and   Plantations   to   the   Duke   of 

Whitehall.     Newcastle.     In   obedience  to  H.M.   commands   (15th  March), 

we    have    reconsidered    our    Representation    (27th    Feb.)    etc., 

and  take  leave  to  inclose  the  same,  in  order  to  its  being  laid 

before  H.M.     Autograph  signatures.     I  p.     Enclosed, 

131.  i.  Same  to  the  King.  Representation  upon  the  Duke 
of  Montagu's  petition  for  a  grant  of  Tobago.  In  same 
words  as  27th  Feb.,  but  with  the  following  passage 
inserted : — Were  this  Island  effectually  settled,  the 
Revenues  of  the  Crown  would  be  increased  by  the 
importation  of  the  product  thereof  to  Great  Britain  ; 
the  duty  paid  upon  the  importation  of  sugars  from 
Barbados,  amounts  to  abt.  £25,000  p.  annum,  of 
which  £10,000  belongs  to  your  Majesty's  Civil  List 
Revenue,  and  this  Island  being  as  large  if  not  larger 
than  Barbados,  and  capable  of  the  same  produce 
with  Barbados,  it  is  not  to  be  doubted  but  that  in  a 
few  years,  the  product  of  Tobago  must  yeild  a  very 
considerable  revenue  to  your  Majesty  ;  the  duty  of 
4|  p.  cent,  when  this  Island  is  settled,  will  likewise 
be  a  considerable  addition  to  your  Majesty's  Revenue. 


AMERICA   AND   WEST  INDIES.  73 

1728. 

The  French  having  greater  quantities  of  fresh  sugar 
land  than  the  English  ;  which  produce  with  little 
or  no  charge  of  manure,  and  giving  greater  incourage- 
ment  to  all  their  Plantations  in  America,  particularly 
by  a  late  edict  allowing  their  planters  to  carry  their 
sugars  directly  to  foreign  markets,  they  are  able  to 
undersell  Great  Britain  in  all  parts  of  Europe,  for 
which  reason  all  proper  methods  should  be  taken 
to  put  your  Majtys.  subjects  upon  a  more  equall 
footing  with  the  French  in  this  particular,  and  it  is 
not  to  be  doubted  but  the  planting  of  sugar  canes  on 
the  fresh  lands  in  Tobago,  will  very  much  contribute 
to  this  desirable  end.  The  French  are  already  very 
powerfull  in  their  sugar  Colonies  and  are  daily 
endeavouring  to  encrease  them  by  obliging  every  ship 
that  goes  to  their  Islands,  to  carry  thither  a  certain 
number  of  family's,  which  will  make  it  the  more 
necessary  for  your  Majesty's  service,  that  all  possible 
encouragement  should  be  given  for  the  settling  and 
planting  of  Tobago,  which  will  be  an  additional 
strength  to  your  Majesty's  Colonies  in  those  parts.  And 
altho'  the  inhabitants  of  your  Majesty's  Sugar  Islands 
may  apprehend  that  it  is  not  for  their  particular  advan- 
tage, that  Tobago  should  be  planted,  and  have  formerly 
oppos'd  it,  least  this  new  Plantation  should  reduce 
the  price  of  sugars,  yet  when  it  shall  be  duly  considered 
how  necessary  it  is  that  your  Majesty's  subjects 
should  go  to  foreign  markets  upon  equal  terms  with 
their  neighbours,  who  as  has  been  already  observ'd, 
do  greatly  undersell  us  :  it  will  not  be  thought 
reasonable  that  the  interest  of  the  sugar  Plantations 
should  stand  in  competition  with  that  of  Great  Britain. 
The  settling  of  this  Island  will  increase  the  exportation 
of  the  product  and  manufactures  of  Great  Britain 
and  the  importation  of  the  product  of  that  Island 
to  Great  Britain,  as  well  as  the  re-exportation  of  it 
from  hence  to  foreign  countrys,  will  necessaryly 
encrease  the  number  of  British  ships  and  seamen, 
to  the  great  benefit  of  Trade  and  Navigation  of  this 
Kingdom.  The  situation  of  Tobago  renders  it  of 
very  great  consequence,  because  most  ships  going 
from  Europe,  or  Africa,  to  the  Spanish  West  Indies, 
sail  in  sight  of,  or  near  this  Island,  and  it  is  so  situate 
with  respect  to  Barbados,  that  should  it  fall  into  the 
hands  of  any  foreign  power,  they  would  have  the 
same  advantage  in  case  of  a  rupture,  over  Barbados, 
to  make  invasions  thereon,  as  the  French  from 
Martinique  had  in  the  late  war,  against  St.  Christo- 
phers, Nevis  and  Montserrat ;  the  windward  situation 


74 


COLONIAL  PAPERS. 


1728. 

of  this  Island  with  respect  to  Barbados  being  pretty 
near  the  same  with  that  of  Martinique  with  respect 
to  your  Majesty's  Leeward  Islands.  Continues  as  27th 
Feb.  [C.O.  29,  14.  pp.  440-447 ;  and  (covering 
letter  only)  285,  2.  No.  7.] 

March  27.       132.     H.M.  Warrant  restoring  Samuel  Barwick  to  his  place 
st.  James's.    in    the    Council    of   Barbados,    he    having    now    rendered    his 

accompts    etc.     cf.    19th    Jan.    1719.      Countersigned,    Holies 

Newcastle.     [C.O.  324,  36.     pp.  46,  47.] 

March  28.  133.  Order  of  King  in  Council.  Whereas  H.M.  in  Councill 
St.  James's,  was  this  day  pleased  to  order,  for  the  better  preservation  of 
the  woods  in  North  America,  that  the  Lords  Commissioners 
of  His  Treasury,  should  give  directions  to  the  Surveyor  of 
H.M.  woods  to  reside  constantly  in  some  of  H.M.  Plantations 
on  the  Continent,  and  to  proceed  without  loss  of  time  to  Nova 
Scotia,  and  lay  out  such  tracts  of  land  there,  as  shall  appear 
most  proper  for  producing  masts  and  other  timber  for  the  use 
of  the  Royal  Navy,  not  amounting  to  less  than  200,000  acres  ; 
and  that  they  should  appoint  two  or  more  Deputys,  conversant  in 
the  use  and  value  of  timber,  being  ship-carpenters  by  profession, 
with  competent  salarys,  to  assist  the  said  Surveyor  in  the 
execution  of  his  duty,  and  whereas  H.M.  judges  it  necessary, 
that  the  Governors  of  all  the  Plantations  on  the  Continent  of 
North  America,  should  be  aiding  and  assisting  to  the  said 
Surveyor  and  his  Deputys,  [He]  is  hereby  pleased  to  order, 
that  the  Lords  Commissioners  for  Trade  and  Plantations  do 
forthwith  prepare  a  draught  of  Instructions,  proper  to  be 
sent  to  the  said  Governors  for  that  purpose,  and  present  the 
same  to  His  Majesty  at  this  Board  for  his  royall  approbation. 
Signed,  Edward  Southwell.  Endorsed,  Reed.  1st,  Read  2nd 
April,  1728.  If  pp.  [C.O.  323,  8.  No.  87.] 

March  28.       134.     Order  of  King  in  Council.     Described  in  preceding. 
st.  James's.    Signed,  Edward  Southwell.     Endorsed,  Reed.  15th  Aug.,  Read 
20th   Nov.,  1728.      Copy.     2-|  pp.      [C.O.    323,    8.     No.    97, 
pp.  1-3.] 

March  28.       135.     Order  of  King  in  Council.     Approving  draughts  of 
st.  James's.    Instructions  for  Governor  Burnet.     Signed,  Edward  Southwell. 

Endorsed,  Reed.  29th,  Read  30th  April,  1728.     2  pp.     [C.O. 

5,  870.    ff.  63,  63u.,  64u.  ;   and  5,  194.     /.  138  a,  b.] 

March  28.       136.     Copy  of  above  Instructions.     [C.O.  5,  194.    ff.  139- 

St.  James's.     277.] 

[Mar.   28.]       137.     Copy  of  Governor  Burnet's  instructions  relating  to 
his  salary.     2}  pp.     [C.O.  5,  10.     Nos.  20  and  185.] 


AMERICA   AND   WEST   INDIES. 


75 


1728. 

March  29. 

Whitehall. 


March  29. 

Whitehall. 


138.  Council  of  Trade  and  Plantations  to  the  Lords  Com- 
missioners of  the  Treasury.     Enclose  accounts  to  Lady  day 
of  Office  incidental  charges  and  request  payment  thereof  and 
of  officers'    salaries.     Account   annexed.     [C.O.    389,   37.     pp. 
288,  289.] 

139.  Council   of  Trade   and   Plantations   to   the   Duke   of 
Newcastle.     Enclose  following,   in  reply  to   16th  Nov.,   1724, 
q.v.     Autograph  signatures.     I  p.     Enclosed, 

139.  i.  Same  to  the  King.  Quote  Governor  Hart's  reply  as  to 
the  runaway  negroes  of  Mr.  Garret  of  Guadeloupe 
etc.  Represent  that  Mr.  Garret  has  not  so  much 
reason  to  complain,  considering  that  he  may  have 
redress,  by  due  course  of  law,  for  any  wrong  sustained. 
But  if  the  French  Governor  of  Marygalante  will 
make  restitution  to  Mr.  Molineux,  of  those  negroes 
which  have  been  unjustly  detain'd  from  him,  we 
would  likewise  humbly  propose  that  your  Majty's 
Governor  of  the  Leeward  Islands  may  be  directed 
to  restore  to  Mr.  Garret  so  many  negroes  as  he  can 
prove  a  title  to.  [C.O.  152,  40.  Nos.  23,  23.i ;  and 
153,  14.  pp.  317-320.] 


March  30.  140.  Mr.  Popple  to  Mr.  Fane.  Encloses,  for  his  opinion 
Whitehall,  in  point  of  law,  two  Acts  of  Barbados  (i)  for  laying  a  duty 
upon  wines  etc.,  and  (ii)  to  prevent  the  carrying  off  of  negro 
slaves  etc.  ;  and  two  bills  passed  by  the  Assembly,  1727  (i) 
to  ascertain  the  elections,  powers  and  proceedings  of  church-wardens 
etc.,  and  (ii)  to  exclude  members  of  the  Assembly  from  certain 
offices  etc.  [C.O.  29,  14.  pp.  448,  449.] 

March  30.       141.     H.M.  license  of  absence  for  Lt.  General  Mathew  for 

st.  James's,    six  months  upon  his  urgent  occasions.     Countersigned,  Holies 

Newcastle.     [C.O.  324,  36.     p.  54  ;    and  324,  50.     pp.  37,  38.] 


April  3.  142.  Lord  Craven  to  the  Duke  of  Newcastle.  I  am  forc'd 
(now  the  gout  has  taken  possession  of  me)  to  inform  you  by 
this  letter  etc.  that  as  I  and  the  rest  of  the  Proprietors  have 
agreed  to  part  with  our  interest  in  Carolina,  upon  such  terms, 
as  H.M.  has  been  pleas'd  to  accept,  and  such  as  we  thought 
most  conducive  to  the  benefit  of  the  publick  in  general,  and 
the  interest  of  that  Province  in  particular  ;  so  we  continue 
our  hearty  desires,  and  shall  endeavour,  yt.  that  Colony  may 
flourish,  and  be  of  most  benefit  to  the  Kingdom  of  Great 
Britain  ;  In  order  to  this  we  earnestly  desire  that  your  Grace 
will  be  pleas'd  to  recommend  Col.  Horsey  to  H.M.  to  be  the 
Governour,  who  in  our  opinion  is  a  person  the  most  proper 


76 


COLONIAL  PAPERS. 


1728. 


and  fit  for  the  execution  of  that  trust,  and  to  settle  and  quiet 
the  troubles,  and  extream  great  difficulties  and  disorders  that 
the  Colony  is  now  under ;  He  does  not  want  to  make  a  fortune 
there  ;  nor  will  he  go  with  any  such  view  ;  and  we  are  confident 
by  the  information  we  have  receiv'd  from  thence,  he  will  be 
the  most  acceptable  person  to  the  inhabitants  H.M.  can  send  ; 
We  each  of  us  design  to  take  up  such  tracts  of  land,  and  upon 
such  terms  as  H.M.  shall  be  pleas'd  to  grant  'em  to  us  ;  so 
yt.  each  of  us  may  be  as  serviceable  as  we  can  in  the  setling 
and  peopling  of  the  country.  But  we  can't  concern  ourselves, 
if  Mr.  Johnson  (who  was  our  former  Governour)  is  sent  to 
command  there,  of  whose  conduct  and  disability  we  have  had 
such  wofull  experience  ;  I  therefore  once  more  intreat  your 
Grace  to  use  your  interest  in  Col.  Horsey's  favour,  who  has 
been  so  very  instrumental  in  procuring  this  surrender,  and  is 
the  only  person  we  know,  yt.  is  capable  to  settle  the  quiet 
and  repose  of  that  Colony.  Signed,  Craven.  3|  pp.  [C.O. 
5,  387.  No.  79.] 


April  4.         143.     Commodore  St.  Lo  to  Mr.  Popple.     Encloses  following. 
London.       Signed,  John  St.  Lo.     Endorsed,  Reed.,  Read  5th  April,  1728. 
Addressed.     \  p.     Enclosed, 

143.  i.  Remarks  on  the  Fishery  of  Placentia.     If  the  houses 

and  beaches  belonging  thereto  were  restored  to  the 
fishermen  and  planters,  who  have  been  obliged  to 
leave,  it  would  mean  an  increase  of  fish  caught 
resulting  in  an  increase  of  £30,000  to  H.M.  Revenue 
etc.  1  p.  [C.O.  194,  8.  ff.  167,  168,  170i;.] 

April  4.  144.  Order  of  King  in  Council.  Whereas  H.M.  was  pleased 
St.  James's,  by  his  Order  in  Council  of  15th  June,  1727,  to  declare  his  royal 
pleasure,  that  in  all  the  prayers,  litanies  and  collects  for  the 
Royall  Family,  instead  of  the  words  [H.R.H.  George  Prince 
of  Wales,  the  Princess  and  their  issue  and  all  the  Royal  Family] 
there  should  be  inserted  [Our  Gracious  Queen  Caroline,  the 
Royal  issue,  and  the  rest  of  the  Royal  Family],  orders  that  the 
Lords  Commissioners  for  Trade  and  Plantations  prepare 
draughts  of  Instructions  signifying  the  same  proper  to  be  sent 
to  all  the  Governors  of  H.M.  Plantations  in  America.  Signed, 
Ja.  Vernon.  Endorsed,  Reed.,  Read  10th  April,  1728.  l^rdpp. 
Enclosed, 

144.  i.  Order  of  King  in  Council,  15  June,  1727,  referred  to 

in  preceding.  Printed.  1  p.  [C.O.  323,  8.  Nos. 
88,  88.  i.] 

April  5.         145.     List  of  Carolina  papers.     Endorsed,  Reed,  from  Mr. 
Wrag.     Read   5th  April,   1728.     1  p.     [C.O.   5,   360.    ff.  32, 


AMERICA   AND   WEST   INDIES.  77 


1728. 

[April  5.]  146.  Accounts  of  the  Treasurer  of  S.  Carolina  with  report 
of  the  Committee  of  Public  accounts  thereon.  Nov.  23,  1725. 
Signed,  James  Kinloch,  Benja.  De  la  Conseillere.  Endorsed, 
Reed,  (from  Mr.  Wrag)  6th  July,  Read  28th  Sept.,  1727. 
8f  pp.  [C.O.  5,  360.  ff.  34v.-38v.,  40u.] 

[April  5.]  147.  Petition  of  inhabitants  of  the  parishes  of  St.  Paul 
and  St.  Bartholomew  to  the  Assembly  of  S.  Carolina.  Welcome 
the  summoning  of  Assembly,in  accordance  with  their  repeated 
requests,  and  pray  that  the  Currency  may  be  regulated,  the 
Habeas  Corpus  Act  observed  and  other  abuses  remedied  etc. 
87  signatures.  Endorsed,  Reed,  (from  Mr.  Wrag),  Read  5th 
April,  1728.  Copy.  4&  pp.  [C.O.  5,  360.  ff.  41,  42,  43, 
44,  45,  4>5v.] 

[April  5.1  148.  Similar  petition  from  inhabitants  of  the  parish  of 
St.  Thomas  and  St.  Dennis.  46  signatures.  Endorsed  as 
preceding.  Copy.  4|  pp.  [C.O.  5,  360.  ff.  46,  47,  48,  49, 
50,  50v.] 

[April  5.]  149.  Similar  petition  from  inhabitants  of  Christ  Church 
parish.  39  signatures.  Endorsed  as  preceding.  Copy.  4  pp. 
[C.O.  5,  360.  ff.  5I-52v.] 

[April  5.]  1 50.  Memorial  of  Landgrave  Thomas  Smith  to  the  Assembly 
of  S.  Carolina.  Complains  that  on  llth  June,  1727,  he  was 
arrested  and  committed  on  a  charge  of  high  treason  in 
endeavouring  to  raise  an  insurrection,  and  in  spite  of  his 
application  for  a  writ  of  Habeas  corpus,  remains  in  prison 
without  trial,  owing  to  the  action  of  Thomas  Hepworth  the 
late  Chief  Justice.  Petitioner  is  one  of  the  oldest  setlers,  and 
has  spent  25  years  in  the  Council  and  Assembly  serving  the 
public  at  his  own  charge  etc.  Prays  that  he  may  be  declared 
within  the  benefit  of  the  Habeas  Corpus  Act  etc.  Signed, 
Thomas  Smith.  Endorsed  as  preceding.  Copy.  2^  pp. 
[C.O.  5,  360.  ff.  53,  54,  55,  55v.] 

[April  5.]  1 51 .  Petition  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  parish  of  St.  James 
Santee  to  the  Assembly  of  S.  Carolina.  Petition  for  the 
regulation  of  the  currency  and  other  abuses.  Ask  that  the 
right  of  H.M.  subjects  to  petition  the  Governor  and  Council 
to  call  the  General  Assembly  may  be  asserted,  and  that 
those  who  denounce  them  as  factious  and  seditious  and  imprison 
them  for  doing  so  are  betrayers  of  the  rights  and  liberties  of 
the  subjects  of  England.  30  signatures.  Same  endorsement. 
Copy.  31  pp.  [C.O.  5,  360.  ff.  56-57u.] 

[April  5.1  1 52.  Similar  petition  from  inhabitants  of  parish  of  St. 
Johns.  52  signatures.  Same  endorsement.  Copy.  4  pp. 
[C.O.  5,  360.  ff.  58-59i;.] 


78 


COLONIAL   PAPERS. 


1728. 

[April  5.] 


April  5. 

Whitehall. 


April  5. 

Whitehall. 


April  5. 

Whitehall. 


153.  Minutes    of   Council    and    Assembly    of   S.    Carolina, 
Oct.  31,  1727,  concerning  the  Proclamation  of  King  George  II. 
Same  endorsement.     Copy.     2  pp.     [C.O.   5,   360.    ff.   60,   61, 

610.] 

1 54.  Duke    of   Newcastle    to    the    Council    of   Trade    and 
Plantations.     H.M.    having   been   pleased   to   continue   Henry 
Worsley  Esq.   in   the  employment  of  Governor  of  Barbados 
in  America,  you  are  to  prepare  draughts  of  a  Commission  and 
Instructions  for  him  etc.     Signed,  Holies  Newcastle.     Endorsed, 
Reed.  5th,  Read  9th  April,  1728.     \  p.     [C.O.  28,  19.    ff.  174, 
1750.] 


1  55.  Council  of  Trade  and  Plantations  to  the  King.  Refer 
to  representation  of  16th  March,  1727,  proposing  recall  of 
Lt.  Govr.  Gledhill.  Continue : — Since  this,  we  have  had 
under  our  consideration  several  letters  from  Capt.  St.  Lo  etc., 
and  discoursed  with  him  since  his  return  home.  We  find  that 
Col.  Gledhill  still  continues  to  interrupt  and  disturb  the  Fishery 
at  Placentia,  by  obliging  the  fishermen  to  pay  him  certain 
sums  of  money  for  the  Beach  they  possess,  in  direct  opposition 
to  the  Act  for  encouraging  the  trade  to  Newfoundland,  whereby 
all  your  Majesty's  subjects  have  liberty  freely  to  trade  and 
fish  at  Newfoundland  and  the  parts  adjacent,  to  go  ashore,  to 
cure  fish  and  make  oyl,  cut  wood,  and  do  whatever  else  may 
be  useful  in  the  fishing  trade,  without  any  hindrance  etc.  This 
proceeding  of  Col.  Gledhill  is  also  a  manifest  breach  of  your 
Majesty's  Instructions,  whereby  neither  he  nor  any  of  the 
Garrison  of  Placentia  are  to  concern  themselves  in  the  Fishery 
etc.  As  we  have  receiv'd  several  complaints  of  this  nature 
against  Col.  Gledhill,  to  which  he  has  never  yet  given  us  any 
satisfactory  answer,  and  as  we  find  that  he  still  continues  to 
disturb  the  Fishery  notwithstanding  the  aforesaid  Act  of 
Parliament  and  your  Majesty's  Instructions,  we  take  leave 
to  represent  our  humble  opinion,  that  it  will  be  for  your  Majesty's 
service  that  he  be  immediately  remov'd  from  his  imployment. 
[C.O.  195,  7.  pp.  152-154.] 

156.  Council  of  Trade  and  Plantations  to  the  King.  In 
obedience  to  Order  of  28th  March,  enclose  following  etc. 
Annexed, 

156.  i.  Draught  of  Additional  Instruction  to  the  Governors 
of  New  York,  New  Jersey,  New  Hampshire,  the 
Massachusets  Bay,  Rhode  Island  and  Connecticut,  to 
be  aiding  and  assisting  to  the  Surveyor  General  of 
the  Woods  or  his  Deputies  etc.  in  preventing  the 
destruction  of  H.M.  woods,  or  in  punishing  such  as 
shall  be  found  offending  therein  etc.  Printed,  Conn. 
Hist,  Soc.  Coll,  IV.  118.  [C.O.  324,  11.  pp.  97-99.] 


AMERICA   AND   WEST   INDIES. 


79 


1728. 
April  5. 

Whitehall. 


1 57.  Mr.  Popple  to  Mr.  Fane.  Encloses,  for  his  opinion 
thereon  in  point  of  law,  3  Acts  of  St.  Kitts,  1727.  (i)  for 
regulating  vestries  and  erecting  into  parishes  those  parts  of  this 
island  formerly  belonging  to  the  French,  and  repealing  two  former 
acts  for  regulating  vestries  and  parishes  etc.  (ii)  to  enable  the 
several  parts  of  this  island  formerly  belonging  to  the  French  to 
choose  and  send  Representatives  to  serve  in  the  Assemblies,  to 
declare  and  ascertain  the  number  of  Representatives  for  the  whole 
island,  what  number  each  parish  shall  elect,  and  the  several  quali- 
fications of  the  electors  and  candidates,  to  secure  the  freedom  of 
elections,  and  for  repealing  the  Act  for  preserving  the  freedom 
of  elections,  1711,  etc.  (iii)  An  Act  repealing  an  Act  for  settling 
£2000  per  annum  upon  Governor  Hart  etc.,  and  for  appropriating 
the  monys  payable  thereby  to  his  said  Excellency  from  25th  June, 
1727,  and  for  declaring  in  what  specie  the  duty  commonly  called 
the  three  shilling  duty  shall  be  hereafter  paid.  [C.O.  153,  14. 
pp.  321-323.] 


April  5. 

Whitehall. 


1 58.  Same  to  Edward  Warner.  My  Lords  Commissioners 
observing  that  you  have  been  some  time  absent  from  the  Council 
of  St.  Kitts,  desire  you  will  let  them  know  on  Tuesday  morning, 
whether  and  when  you  will  return  etc.  Similar  letter  to  Archi- 
bald Cockran  and  John  Yeamans,  Councillors  of  Antigua. 
[C.O.  153,  14.  p.  324.] 


[April  6.]  1 59.  (a)  Proclamation  of  King  George  II.  Nevis,  Sept. 
26,  1727.  Signed,  by  the  Lt.  Governor,  Council,  Assembly  and 
inhabitants.  67  signatures.  Endorsed,  Reed.  6th  April  (from 
Mr.  Jno.  Sharpe),  Read  20th  June,  1728.  1  p. 

(b)  Christenings  and  burials  in  the  parish  of  S.  Paul,  Nevis, 
Michaelmas,   1726-1727.     Totals  : — Baptisms,   8  ;     burials,   12. 
Signed,   Robert   Robertson,   Minister.     1  p.     Endorsed,   Reed. 
6th  April  (from  Mr.  Jno.  Sharpe).     1  p. 

(c)  Account  of  negroes  imported,  Nevis,  25th  March,  1727. 
One  shipload  of  35,  of  which  12  were  sold  and  the  rest  exported. 
Average  price  £27  35.  Qd.     Endorsed  as  preceding.     \  p. 

(d)  Annual  public  charges  of  Nevis.     Total : — £360.     Signed, 
William  Mathew.     1  p. 

(e)  Account  of  licences  issued  in  Nevis  (8).     Oct.  10,  1727. 
Signed,  Edwd.  Bridgwater,  Treasr.     1  p. 

(/)  Account  of  arrears  received  due  to  the  public.  Signed 
and  dated  as  preceding.  1  p. 

(g)  Account  of  tonnage  of  3d.  upon  vessels  (7).  Total : — 
£6  Is.  \Q\d.  Signed  and  dated  as  preceding.  1  p. 

(h)  Account  of  disbursements  since  June  1st,  1727.  Total : — 
£234  8*.  Ofd.  Same  date  and  signature.  1  p. 

(i)  Receipts  from  public  levy,  June  1st-  Oct.  10th,  1727. 
Total : — £163  105.  Q\d.  Same  signature  and  date.  1  p. 


80 


COLONIAL   PAPERS. 


1728. 


Total  .'—£102  13*.  9f 


April  9. 


April  9. 

Barbados. 


(j)  Receipts  from  public  levy  in  1725. 
Same  signature  and  date.     1  p. 

(k)  Account  of  duty  upon  liquors,  1st  June — Oct.  10th,  1727. 
Total :— £62  5s.  Wd.  Same  date  and  signature,  f  p. 

(I)  Account  of  charges  on  account  of  the  forts.  Total : — 
£102  Is.  3d.  Same  date  and  signature.  \^pp. 

(m)  Account  of  charges  for  the  prison  and  stocks.  Total : — 
£6  17*.  9d.  Same  date  and  signature.  |  p. 

(n)  Account  of  military  salaries  (montrosses  etc.),  25th 
June— 10th  Oct.,  1727.  "  Total :— £100.  Same  date  and 
signature.  1  p. 

(o)  State  of  Publick  of  Nevis  its  accompts,  1st  June — 10th 
Oct.,  1727.  Totals  .-—Expenditure,  £517  17*.  Od.  ;  Receipts, 
£487  6*.  8d.  Same  date  and  signature.  Endorsed,  Reed.  6th 
April,  1728  (from  Mr.  Sharpe).  2  pp. 

(p)  Account  of  Ordnance  and  stores  in  the  magazine  and 
forts  at  Nevis,  3rd  Oct.,  1727.  Signed,  John  Richardson, 
Gunner,  W.  Hopkey,  Capt.  and  Gunner.  Endorsed  as  preceding. 
1  large  p.  [C.O.  152,  16.  ff.  340-343,  344,  345,  346,  347, 
348,  349,  350,  351-352,  353,  854v.-356u.] 

160.  Edward    Warner    to    the     Council    of    Trade    and 
Plantations.     Reply    to    April    5.     After    residing    at    Antigua 
13  or  14  years  was  obliged  (with  Governor  Hart's  licence  for 
a  year)  to  come  over  for  the  mending  a  shattered  constitution 
and  for  the  education  of  a  young  family,  as  well  as  to  settle 
some  affairs,  which  absolutely  required  his  personal  attendance. 
Hopes  that  fourteen  months  or  so  will  complete  his  business 
and   health   and   enable   him   to   return.     Asks   the   Board   to 
intercede  for  H.M.   licence  of  leave  for  two  years  longer  etc. 
Signed,   Edward  Warner.     Endorsed,   Reed.,   Read   9th  April, 
1728.     2  pp.     [C.O.  152,  16.     ff.  312,  313,  313t;.] 

1 61 .  Governor  Worsley  to  the  Duke  of  Newcastle.     Refers 
to  letter  of  13th  Jan.       Continues  : — Not  having  received  H.M. 
commands    upon  their  past   conduct,   I   again  prorogued   the 
Assembly  to  the  30th  instant,  and  do  design  to  prorogue  them 
further.     In  June  next  they  must  of  course  be  dissolved,  in 
that    there  may    be    sufficient  time  for  the  election  of  a  new 
Assembly,  and  afterwards  for  their  passing  a  new  Excise  bill 
before  the  present  Act  expires,  which  will  be  the  beginning  of 
August  next.     As  I  had  the  honour  to  advise  your  Grace  that 
I  had  ordered  the  several  officers  to  lay  a  list  of  their  fees  before 
me  in  Council,  I  have  now  transmitted  the  greatest  part  of 
them  in  the  Minutes  of  Council,  which  accompany  this.     After 
I  had  ordered  them  to  be  read  in  Council,  I  appointed  a  Com- 
mittee of  the  whole  Council,  or  any  five  of  them  to  inspect 
and  examine  into  them,  and  to  have  recourse  to  all  papers  and 
books  in  the  several  offices,  and  to  summon  the  said  officers 
before  them  to  examine  into  the  premisses,  and  to  lay  the 


AMERICA  AND   WEST  INDIES. 


81 


1728. 


April  9. 

Barbados. 


April  10. 

Whitehall. 


April  11. 

Whitehall. 


list  of  fees  now  hanging  up  in  the  said  offices  before  them  and 
that  copys  of  the  same  should  be  returned  to  me  together  with 
the  said  Committees  proceeding  thereon.  Collo.  Montgomery 
who  arrived  here  the  23rd  of  January,  departed  the  23rd  past 
for  his  Government,  having  been  forced  by  bad  weather  off 
the  coast  of  New  York,  the  man  of  war  was  obliged  to  bear 
away  for  this  Island  in  order  to  be  refitted.  Thomas  Maxwell 
Esqr.  one  of  H.M.  Council  lately  dyed  here.  Signed,  Henry 
Worsley.  Endorsed,  Rd.  June  4th.  3  pp.  [C.O.  28,  44. 
No.  119.] 

162.  Same    to    the    Council    of    Trade    and    Plantations. 
Duplicate    of   preceding.     Concludes :  —  'Tis   but   lately    I    had 
the  honour  of  receiving   your   Lordps'  letter   of  31st   Aug.  in 
relation  to  the  Minutes  and  Acts  not  being  abstracted  in  the 
margins.     I  have  ordered  the  officers  to  take  particular  care  to  do 
it  for  the  future.     P.S.     This  goes  by  the  Maxwell  galley  etc. 
Signed,    Henry    Worsley.     Endorsed,    Reed.    3rd,    Read    19th 
June,  1728.     3  pp.     [C.O.  28,  19.    ff.  190-191i;.] 

163.  Council   of  Trade   and   Plantations   to   the   Duke   of 
Newcastle.     Enclose  following  to  be  laid  before  H.M.     Auto- 
graph signatures.     1  p.     Enclosed, 

163.  i.  Same  to  the  King.  Reply  to  31st  Jan.,  1727,  upon 
address  of  Assembly  of  St.  Kitts  relating  to  Lt.  General 
Mathew's  accounting  for  money  appropriated  for 
erecting  a  fortification.  Continue :—  We  wrote  to 
Lt.  Gen.  Mathew  etc.  and  have  now  received  his  answer 
to  the  said  complaint,  as  also  an  Address  from  the 
present  Assembly  to  him,  wherein  they  take  notice 
"  that  all  his  receipts  and  disbursements  on  the 
aforementioned  acct.  were  kept  with  a  more  perfect 
exactness  than  it  was  reasonable  to  expect,  since 
every  single  article  was  proved  to  be  paid  and  expended 
for  the  publick  use."  And  since  by  this  it  appears 
that  the  cause  of  that  Assembly's  complaint  is  intirely 
removed,  we  will  not  trouble  your  Majesty  with  a 
long  state  of  what  was  offered  on  each  side,  but  only 
beg  leave  to  annex  a  copy  of  the  last  mentioned 
Address.  Autograph  signatures.  2|  pp. 

163.  ii.  Copy  of  Address  of  Assembly  of  St.  Kitts.     v.  Jan. 

31,    1727.     [C.O.    239,    1.     Nos.    38,    38  i,    ii  ;     and 
(without  encl.  ii)  153,  14.     pp.  326,  327.] 

164.  Mr.  Popple  to  William  Gerrish.     My  Lords  Commis- 
sioners observing  that  you  have  been  some  time  absent  from 
the  Council  of  Montserrat  etc.,  desire  you  will  let  them  know, 
by  the  bearer,  or  before  10   of  the   clock  to-morrow  morning, 
whether  you  intend  to  return  ;    and  if  you  do  intend  it,  how 
soon.     [C.O.  153,  14.     p.  327.] 

C.P.  XXXVI— 6 


82  COLONIAL   PAPERS. 


1728. 

April  11.        165.     Order  of  King  in  Council.     Referring  following  to  the 
St.  James's.    Council   of  Trade   and   Plantations   for  their  immediate   con- 
sideration and  report.     Signed,  Ja.  Vernon.     Endorsed,  Reed. 
Read  16th  April,  1728.     1|  pp.     Enclosed, 

165.  i.  Petition  of  Governor  Hart  to  the  King.  Prays  for 
repeal  of  an  Act  of  St.  Christophers  for  repealing  an 
Act  for  settling  £2000  upon  Governor  Hart  etc.,  which 
received  the  Royal  assent.  Lt.  General  Mathew 
acted  not  only  contrary  to  his  Instructions  in  passing 
such  a  law  without  a  clause  to  suspend  its  execution 
until  H.M.  pleasure  should  be  known,  but  also  in 
contempt  of  H.M.  authority  and  in  derogation  of 
H.M.  prerogative.  This  Act  was  brought  into  the 
Assembly,  read  and  past  there,  brought  into  the 
Councill  read  and  past  there,  and  assented  to  by 
Lt.  Genl.  Mathew  in  less  than  three  hours  of  one 
day,  19th  Dec.,  in  breach  of  the  constitution  of 
St.  Christophers  and  orders  of  Assembly  etc.  10  pp. 
[C.O.  152,  16.  ff.  314,  315-319i;.,  321r;.] 

April  12.  166.  Mr.  Burchett  to  Mr.  Popple.  My  Lords  Commissioners 
A0fficelty  of  the  Admiralty  having  appointed  three  of  H.M.  ships  for 
this  year's  service  at  Newfoundland,  under  the  command  of 
Lord  Vere  Beauclerke,  who  goes  to  St.  Johns  in  the  Kinsale, 
with  the  Squirrel ;  as  Capt.  Henry  Reddish,  in  the  Experiment, 
is  design'd  for  Placentia,  and  Canso,  etc.  requests  Instructions 
and  Heads  of  Enquiry  as  usual.  Signed,  J.  Burchett. 
Endorsed,  Reed.,  Read  16th  April,  1728.  Addressed,  f  p. 
[C.O.  194,  8.  ff.  171,  172u.] 

April  12.  167.  Council  of  Trade  and  Plantations  to  the  Duke  of 
Whitehall.  Newcastle.  Enclose  following  to  be  laid  before  H.M.  Annexed, 
167.  i.  Same  to  the  King.  Enclose  Instructions  for  Governor 
Lord  Londonderry.  Refer  to  a  clause  relating  to  the 
position  of  the  Lt.  General  of  the  Leeward  Islands  in 
the  several  Councils.  This  passage  together  with  the 
clause  referred  to  was  cancelled.  Have  inserted  names 
of  new  Councillors,  (a)  Thomas  Butler  and  Daniel 
Smith  to  supply  vacancies  in  Nevis  (b)  James  Milliken 
in  place  of  Pym  Burt,  for  St.  Kitts,  the  latter  being 
omitted  as  being  already  of  the  Council  of  Nevis, 
(c)  John  Roberts,  William  Lyddel  and  John  Bramley 
for  vacancies  in  Montserrat,  (d)  George  Thomas  and 
Francis  Carlisle  to  supply  vacancies  in  Antigua.  The 
33rd  Article,  relating  to  an  additional  salary,  is  made 
conformable  to  the  Order  in  Council,  15th  Feb.  last. 
Conclude : — We  have  made  no  other  alteration  or 
addition  except  what  your  Majesty  has  approved 
in  Instructions  to  other  Governors  etc.,  except  the 


AMERICA   AND   WEST   INDIES. 


83 


1728. 


April  12. 

Whitehall. 


leaving  out  the  name  of  Sherrif  in  the  llth  and  42nd 
Articles,  the  duty  of  that  place  being  done  by  the 
Provost  Marshal  and  his  Deputies.  Annexed, 

167.  ii.  H.M.  Instructions  for  Governor  Lord  Londonderry, 

as  described  in  preceding.     [C.0. 153,  14.     pp.  328-400.] 

168.  Council  of  Trade  and  Plantations  to  Governor  Worsley. 
Acknowledge  letters  of  16th  and  26th  Oct.,  21st  Nov.,  4th  Dec. 
and  13th  Jan.  last.     Continue  : — In  your  letter  of  16th  Oct. 
you  take  notice  that  you  had  receiv'd  no  order  for  altering  the 
form  of  prayers  for  the  Royal  Family,  but  as  we  have  now 
receiv'd  directions  to   prepare   a  proper  Instruction  for  that 
purpose,  you  will  shortly  receive  the  same.     We  take  notice 
of  another  paragraph  in  your  said  letter,  that  the  Assembly 
of  Barbados  have  assum'd  to  themselves,  a  power  not  only  of 
adjourning,  but  also  of  adjourning  from  place  to  place  ;    As  we 
think  this  a  power  to  which  they  have  no  manner  of  title,  we 
shall  report  this  case  to  H.M.,  that  you  may  receive  a  proper 
Instruction  for  preventing  the  same  for  the  future.     We  have 
consider'd  the  Minutes  of  the  Assembly  of  the  5th  Oct.,  to 
which  you  refer'd  us,  for  a  motion  made  by  Gelasius  McMahone 
Esq.  and  seconded  by  Thomas  Maycoek  Esq.  for  the  Assembly 
to  appoint  a  Committee  to  examine  into  the  reasons  why  the 
publick  Court  house  and  goal,  for  the  building  of  which  an 
Act  had  been  passed  for  raising  a  levy  two  years  ago,  was  not 
yet  begun  ;    upon  this  occasion,  altho'  we  think  it  would  have 
been  decent  for  the  Assembly  to  have  apply'd  to  you  for  the 
proper  orders  in  this  affair,   yet  we  are  of  opinion  that  the 
Assembly  have  an  undoubted  right  to  enquire  into  the  execution 
of  those  laws  whereby  money  is  raised  for  public  uses.       We 
observe  by  your  letter  of  4th  Dec.,  that  the  Assembly  have 
addressed  you  for  an  accot.   of  Patent  Officers'  fees,  as  also 
for  a  copy  of  the  report  which  the  Judges  and  Attorney  General 
made  upon  a  complaint  against  the  Deputy  Provost  Marshal, 
and  that  you  have  order' d  the  several    officers  to  lay  before 
you  in  Council,,  a  list  of  their  respective  fees  ;  tho'  the  Members 
of  the  Assembly,  as  private  men,  may  have  recourse  to  the 
several  offices  for  an  account  of  the  said  fees,  yet  we  think 
that  regard  ought  to  be  paid  to  Assembly's  Address,  and  an 
acct.  of  ye  said  fees  laid  before  them,  more  especially  since 
if  any  complaint  of  exaction  should  want  redress,  no  law  can 
be    brot.    into    the    Assembly    for   that    purpose,    without    ye 
assistance  of  such  lists,  and  other  proper  papers,  or  records, 
to  shew  what  fees  are  reasonable,  and  legal,  and  what  not. 
We  have  sent  to  Mr.  Fane  the  Acts  and  bills  you  enclosed  etc. 
(v.  30th  March).     We  shall  lay  before  H.M.  the  bill  to  ascertain 
the  elections  of  churchwardens  etc.,  that  you  may  know  H.M. 
pleasure  concerning  the  same.     We  take  this  opportunity  of 
congratulating    you    upon    your   being   reappointed    Governor 


COLONIAL   PAPERS. 


1728. 


April  12. 

Whitehall. 


April  17. 


April  17. 

Whitehall. 


of  Barbados.  P.S.  April  17th.  We  can't  omit  this  oppor- 
tunity, of  acquainting  you,  with  an  account  we  have  had  from 
Barbados,  by  which  it  appears  that  the  French  at  St.  Vincents 
do  raise  and  export  great  quantities  of  corn,  and  that  Barbados 
has  of  late  been  supply'd  with  several  sloop-loads  thereof. 
We  are  likewise  informed  that  a  French  man  of  war  was 
expected  from  Martinique,  to  seize  what  English  sloops  should 
be  found  at  St.  Vincents,  or  to  know  by  what  authority  they 
cut  timber  there.  As  we  have  received  no  information  of  this 
nature  from  you,  we  would  hope  the  above  accounts  are  not 
true,  nevertheless  we  desire,  you  will  send  us  a  state  of  this 
matter  by  the  first  conveyance.  [C.O.  29,  14.  pp.  450-453.] 

169.     Council  of  Trade  and  Plantations  to  the  King.     In 
obedience  to  Order  of  4th  April,  enclose  following.     Annexed, 

169.  i.  Draught  of  Additional  Instructions  to  Governors  of 

Plantations,  relating  to  alterations  in  the  Prayers  for 
the  Royal  Family.  Printed,  Penn.  Archives,  1st 
Ser.  I,  228.  [C.O.  324,  11.  pp.  100-102.] 

170.  Mr.  Fane  to  the  Council  of  Trade  and  Plantations. 
Report  upon  Act  of  St.  Christophers  to  repeal  Act  settling  £2000 
upon  Governor  Hart  etc.     It  is  plainly  passed  in  derogation  to 
the  prerogative  of  the  Crown,  it  being  indisputably  clear  that 
when  the  Crown  has  confirmed  a  law  passed  in  the  Plantation 
the  Assembly  there  have  no  further  power  over  that  law  but 
are  obliged  to  see  the  same  carried  into  due  execution  until 
H.M.  shall  be  pleased  to  allow  and  permit  a  repealer  thereof 
whereas  in  this  Act  the  Legislature  of  St.  Christophers  have 
assumed  an  absolute  power  over  the  prerogative  by  repealing 
in  positive  and  express  termes  the  Act  of  the  Crown  without 
any  clause   being  inserted  therein  to   suspend  the   execution 
thereof  until  H.M.  pleasure  should  be  known  concerning  the 
same,  and  without  which  clause  I  conceive  the    Commander 
in  Chief  was  not  warranted  in  passing  it  etc.     Concludes  : — 
Upon  the  whole,   I   am  humbly  of  opinion  that  this  Act  is 
derogatory  to  the  Prerogative  of  the  Crown  injurious  to  the 
property  of  the  subject  against  law  and  highly  unreasonable 
in  its  self  and  as  such  that  H.M.  may  be  very  properly  advised 
to  repeal  the   same.     Signed,   Fran.   Fane.     Endorsed,   Reed., 
Read  17th  April,  1728.     1  p.     [C.O.  152,  16.     ff.  322,  8230.] 

1 71 .  Council   of  Trade   and   Plantations   to   the   Duke   of 
Newcastle.     Enclose    following,    to    be    laid    before    the    King 
Prefixed, 

171.  i.  Same  to  the  King.  Enclose  following.  We  are 
preparing  the  necessary  Instructions  etc. 

171.  ii.  Draught  of  Commission  for  Henry  Worsley  to  be 
Governor  of  Barbados.  In  the  usual  terms.  [C.O. 
29,  15.  pp.  1-21.] 


AMERICA   AND   WEST   INDIES. 


85 


1728. 
April  17. 

Whitehall. 


April  17. 

Whitehall. 


April 
17-27. 

Williams- 
burgh. 


April  18. 

St.  James's. 


April  18. 

St.  James's. 


172.  Same  to  the  King.      In  reply  to  April  llth,  we  have 
considered  Col.  Hart's  petition  and  consulted  Mr.  Fane  upon 
the  Act    of    St.    Xtophers    complained    of    etc.     Conclude  :— 
We  conceive  the  said  Act  to  be  derogatory  to  the  Prerogative 
of  the  Crown,  injurious  to  the  property  of  the  subject,  against 
law,  and  highly  unreasonable  in  itself,  and  in  direct  opposition 
to    your  Majesty's  Royal  Instructions   whereby   the  Govr.    is 
directed  not  to  give  his  consent  to  any  Act  that  shall  repeal 
any  other  that  has  had  the  Royal  assent,  without  having  first 
transmitted   the    draught   thereof  for   your   Majesty's    appro- 
bation, unless  he  take  care  there  be  a  clause  inserted  therein, 
suspending    the    execution    thereof   until    your    Majesty    shall 
please   to   confirm   the   same.     Propose   H.M.    disallowance   of 
said  Act.     [C.O.  153,  14.     pp.  401,  402.] 

173.  Mr.    Popple    to    Mr.    Burchett.     Encloses    Heads    of 
Enquiry  for  the   Commodore   of  the   Newfoundland   Convoy. 
Same  as  those  for  1725.     v.   C.S.P.     April  21st,   1725.     [C.O. 
195,  7.     pp.  154,  155.] 

174.  (a)  Proclamation  by  Lt.  Gov.  Gooch  prohibiting  the 
entertainment    of  sailors  belonging    to  H.M.    ships  of  war    in 
Virginia,  and  preventing  the  desertion  of  such  sailors.     April 
17,1728.     Signed,  William  Gooch.     Copy.     1|  pp. 

(b)  Proclamation  prohibiting  the  exportation  of  grain,  flower 
and  meal,  owing  to  scarcity  etc.     April  27th,   1728.     Signed, 
William  Gooch.     Copy.     1  p. 

(c)  Proclamation  appointing  a  day  of  fasting  and  humiliation 
on  17th  May,  and  requiring  Ministers  to  preach  sermons  suitable 
to  the  occasion  ; — the  occasion  being  that    "  It  hath  pleased 
Almighty  God  in  a  very  surprizing  and  unusual  manner  to 
overspread    this   Dominion    with    vast   multitudes    of  catter- 
pillars  which  threaten  destruction  to  the  fruits  of  the  earth 
and  which  we  have  just  cause  to  fear  are  brought  upon  us  as 
a  punishment  for  our  many  sins  and  impiety  and  forasmuch 
as  a  sincere  and  unfeigned  repentance  with  a  speedy  application 
to  the  Throne  of  Grace  will  be  the  surest  means  to  avert  the 
impending   judgment,"     etc.     Signed,    William   Gooch.     Copy. 
|  p.     [C.O.  5,  1344.     No.  5.] 

175.  Order    of    King    in    Council.     Approving    Governor 
WTorsley's  Commission.     Signed,  Ja.  Vernon.     Endorsed,  Reed. 
29th,    Read   30th   April,    1728.     1  p.     [C.O.  28,  19.    ff.    178, 
179i;.  ;   and   5,  194.     /.  282a.] 

176.  Order    of    King  in   Council.      Approving    drafts    of 
Instructions    for    Governor    the    Earl    of    Londonderry    and 
appointing  Councillors  as  recommended.     Signed,  Ja.  Vernon. 
Endorsed,  Reed.  29th,  Read  30th  April,   1728.     2  pp.     [C.O. 
152,  16.     ff.  338,  338i;.,  339u.  ;    and  5,  194.     ff.  27,  270.] 


86 


COLONIAL   PAPERS. 


[C.O.    5,    194.    ff. 


1728. 
April  18.        177.     Copy   of  preceding   Instructions. 

St.  James's.     29-111.] 

April  22.        178.     Copy  of  warrant  for  Governor  Worsley's  Commission. 

St.  James's.     [C.O.   5,   194.      ff.   283-301.] 

April  24.  179.  Mr.  Donovan  to  the  Duke  of  Newcastle.  Complains 
Port  Royal.  of  Act  passed  this  session  relating  to  rum.  As  agent  to  the 
Jamaica.  Contractor  for  victualling  the  Navy,  found  on  his  arrival  a 
general  complaint  among  H.M.  ships  for  want  of  rum,  "  which 
being  so  scarce  in  Admiral  Hosier's  time  was  thought  to 
occasion  so  much  sickness,  his  being  obliged  several  times  to 
quit  the  coast,  and  thereby  give  opportunity  to  the  Spaniards  " 
to  make  their  escape  from  Carthagena  etc.  The  general  price 
of  rum  for  some  years  past  has  been  from  fifteen  pence  to 
2s.  pr.  gallon  etc,  "  The  late  Contractor  through  the  hardships 
the  Island  impossed  upon  him  by  their  monopolies  and  keeping 
their  rum  from  market  threw  up  his  contract  at  the  very  juncture 
Admiral  Hosier  lay  off  Porto  Bell  which  might  have  been 
of  ill  consequence  etc.,  had  not  the  present  contractors  offered 
themselves,  and  notwithstanding  they  had  half  a  crown  pr. 
gallon,  yet  I  have  been  obliged  to  pay  from  four  shillings  to 
a  crown  for  above  10,000  gallons,  and  could  not  get  sufficient 
for  the  Squadron  at  that  or  any  other  price,  neither  is  it  possible 
considering  the  vent  to  the  Bay,  to  the  northward  and  home 
that  they  could  do  it ;  therefore  it  seems  to  me  ridiculous  they 
should  offer  to  impose  any  hardships  on  the  Squadron  that 
protects  'em  and  without  whom  they  could  not  be  secure 
of  a  morcell  of  bread  "  etc.  Prays  that  an  exception  be  made 
in  the  Revenue  bill  for  the  rum  that  comes  for  the  use  of  the 
Squadron,  "  for  its  plain  its  struck  at  them  and  no  other  "  etc. 
By  sending  some  rum  from  Barbados,  which  has  answered 
all  the  occasions  of  the  Squadron,  he  has  incurred  the  dis- 
pleasure of  the  gentlemen  here.  Asks  for  a  Privy  Seal  or 
anything  of  the  like  nature  to  rid  him  of  their  malice.  The 
later  part  of  the  Act  is  entirely  calculated  against  the  Navy 
and  no  other.  Signed,  Tim.  Donovan.  Endorsed,  Rd.  July 
19.  Addressed.  Seal.  "  On  His  Majesty's  Service."  1  p. 
Enclosed, 

179.  i.  Answers    of   Timothy    Donovan    to    the    complaints 

exhibited    against    him    and    Nicholas    Garland    by 

Alexander  Henderson,  Attorney  General,  Nov.  1727. 

Relating    to    the    Contractors'    importing    rum    from 

Barbados  as  above.     Copy.     2£  pp. 
179.  ii.  Correspondence    between    Commodores    Hosier    and 

St.  Lo  and  Mr.  Donovan  relating  to  supplies  of  rum 

etc.     July    15th- Dec.    12th,    1727.      Copies.      3   pp. 
179.  iii.  The    Weekly    Jamaica     Courant.      April    24,    1728. 

Publishing  provisions  of  the  Revenue  Act.     Printed. 

4  pp. 


AMERICA   AND   WEST   INDIES. 


87 


1728. 

179.  iv.  Duplicate    of   covering   letter.     Endorsed,    R.    23rd 

July. 
179.  v.,  vi.  Duplicates  of  Nos.  i,  ii.      [C.O.  137,  53.    ff.  28, 

29U.-33,  34-36,  37v.-4Iv.] 

April  27.  180.  Act  of  New  Hampshire  for  limiting  duration  of 
Assemblies  to  three  years  etc.  Copy  ;  certified  by  Theodore 
Atkinson,  Secry.  2|  pp.  [C.O.  5,  931.  No.  1C.] 


April  28. 

Antigua. 


May  1. 

Whitehall. 


May  3. 

Whitehall. 


1 81 .  Wavell  Smith  to  the  Council  of  Trade  and  Plantations. 
Offers  objections  to  the  Act  of  St.  Christophers  for  ascertaining 
the  numbers  of  Assemblymen  etc.  and  repealing  the  Act  of  1711 
for  preserving  the  freedom  of  elections  etc.     (v.  Dec.  26th).     (i) 
It  takes  away  from  the  King's  Secretary  and  other  officers 
known  rights  and  privileges,  and  puts  them  on  a  worse  foot 
than    such    officers    were    ever    in    their    mother-country    etc. 
(ii)  This  is  manifestly  designed  to  cut  off  whatever  influence 
their  posts  may  give  them  to  the  support  of  H.M.  Governor 
etc.,  and  will  be  introductive  of  many  more  notions  and  schemes 
of  independency  than   are   already   conceived,   unless   by  the 
rejection  of  this  bill  the  people  are  taught  how  vain  and  fruit- 
less all  attempts  of  that  kind  must  in  the  end  prove,     (iii)  The 
propertys  of  H.M.  Officers  are  not  safe  under  a  law,  that  gives 
so  great  a   latitude   to   people   in  generall,   especially  to   the 
looser  part  to  commence  and  easily  effect  their  prosecutions 
against    them    etc.     (iv)  It    compliments    the    Assembly    with 
the  participation  in  the  prerogative  of  the  Crown  of  issuing 
out    writs    to    choose    Assemblymen,    which    prerogative    the 
Crown  ha*s  solely  exercised  in  these  parts  since  they  have  been 
under    Government    etc.     Signed,    Wavll.    Smith.        Endorsed, 
Reed.   17th  June,   1728,  Read  28th  March,  1729.     Addressed. 
2  large  pp.     [C.O.  152,  17.    ff.  29-30*;.] 

182.  Mr.  Popple  to  Mr.  Fane.     Encloses,  for  his  opinion 
in  point  of  law,  eight  Acts  of  New  York,  1727,  (enumerated). 
[C.O.  5,  1125.     pp.  115-117.] 

183.  Council   of  Trade   and   Plantations   to   the   Duke   of 
Newcastle.     Enclose  following  to  be  laid  before  H.M.    Annexed, 

183.  i.  Same  to  the  King.  Enclose  draught  of  H.M. 
Instructions  to  Lt.  Governor  John  Pitt.  (cf.  12th 
Oct.  1727.)  Continues  : — There  being  two  vacancies 
in  your  Majesty's  Council  of  the  Bermuda  Islands, 
by  the  suspension  of  Mr.  Outerbridge  and  Mr.  Parsons 
being  settled  in  this  Kingdom,  we  have  inserted  the 
names  of  Samuel  Butterfield  and  Leond.  White 
Esqrs.  The  29th  Article  impowering  Capt.  Pitt  to 
accept  of  an  Additional  salary  is  made  conformable 
to  your  Majesty's  directions  for  that  purpose  etc. 
(14th  Nov.).  We  have  inserted  the  97th  Article 


88 


COLONIAL   PAPERS. 


1728. 

directing  an  alteration  to  be  made  in  the  prayers, 
litanies  and  collects  for  the  Royal  Family  pursuant 
to  your  Majesty's  order  in  Council,  4th  April.  We 
have  made  no  other  alteration  or  addition  to  these 
draughts  than  what  your  Majesty  has  already 
approv'd  in  your  Instructions  to  those  Governors 
whom  your  Majesty  has  already  sent  to  other  of  your 
Plantations  in  America,  except  the  leaving  out  the 
name  of  Sherrif  in  the  37  and  87  Articles,  the  duty 
of  that  place  being  done  by  the  Provost  Marshal. 

183,  ii.  H.M.  Instructions  to  Lt.  Governor  Pitt.     v.  preceding. 

[C.O.  38,  8.     pp.  67-144.] 

May  3.  184.  Lt.  Governor  Sir  Richard  Everard  to  the  Council 
Edenton.  of  Trade  and  Plantations.  Abstract.  Has  proclaimed  H.M. 
"  The  utmost  demonstrations  of  joy  was  shewn  by  all  people 
and  the  night  concluded  with  a  compleat  illumination  and 
bonfires  and  drinking  H.M.  health "  etc.  The  bounty  on 
pitch  and  tar  being  off,  the  Province  has  no  trade  to  depend 
on  but  its  beef  and  pork,  which  is  brought  up  by  the  Virginians 
and  driven  alive  there,  so  that  their  navigation  is  entirely  lost 
and  the  Virginians  bring  in  neither  mollosses,  suger  nor  rum, 
"  wch.  are  the  chief  supports  of  this  Province  "  etc.  Complains 
of  the  violent  and  arbitrary  proceedings  of  the  Judge  of  the 
Admiralty.  He,  the  Governor,  has  interfered  on  behalf  of  a 
master  of  a  vessel  whom  the  Judge  had  caused  to  be  hurried 
violently  to  gaol  for  a  tavern  score  of  3s.  \\d.  sterl.  etc.  Asks 
for  the  advice  and  assistance  of  the  Board  in  the  matter  of  a 
law  made  by  Virginia  imposing  severe  penalties  for  every 
hogshead  of  tobacco  imported  from  Carolina.  Several  hogs- 
heads have  been  seized  by  the  Sherrif  of  Nansemond.  "  This 
is  very  prejudicial  to  H.M.  revenues  and  an  insufferable  damage 
to  the  poor  No.  Carolinians.  ...  At  the  same  time  our 
tobacco  exceeds  the  Virginia."  Begs  for  repeal  of  the  Act 
and  that  one  of  the  landings  in  Nansemond  River  may  be 
made  free  to  the  Carolinians  to  ship  their  tobacco  etc.  Set  out, 
N.C.  Col.  Rec.  II.  761.  Signed,  Richd.  Everard.  Endorsed, 
Reed.  3rd  Oct.,  Read  26th  Nov.,  1728.  5  pp.  Enclosed, 

184.  i.  Petition    of    Samuel    Northy    to    Lt.    Governor    Sir 

R.  Everard.  Complaint  against  Edmond  Porter, 
Judge  of  the  Admiralty,  referred  to  in  preceding. 
Set  out,  N.C.  Col.  Rec.  II.  757.  Signed,  Samll.  Northy. 
Endorsed,  Reed.  3rd  Oct.,  1728.  4  pp.  [C.O.  5, 
1267.  ff.  25-27,  28v.-2Qv.,  3Qv.,  32-33z;.,  34i>.  [with 
abstract]  ;  and  (abstract  only)  5,  327.  p.  1.] 

May  4.          185.     Governor    Hunter    to    the    Council    of    Trade    and 

Jamaica.      Plantations.     Encloses  list  of  Acts  passed  this  last  Sessions. 

Continues  : — The  Acts  with  the  proper  remarks,  the  Minutes 


AMERICA  AND   WEST   INDIES. 


89 


1728. 


May  4. 

Jamaica. 


May  6. 

New  York. 


May  6. 

New  York. 


of  Council  and  Assembly  shall  be  sent  by  the  Breda  which 
sayls  in  ten  days.  This  comes  by  a  Bristol  runner  which 
sayls  to-morrow  ;  the  Spanish  privateers  six  in  number  let 
nothing  escape  them.  The  Richmond  a  sloop  wt.  goods  from 
London  for  this  place  was  taken  off  ye  north-east  point  of 
this  Island  about  three  weeks  agoe,  two  of  her  crew  who  made 
their  escape  have  been  with  me.  The  Assembly  desir'd  a 
recesse  on  account  of  their  harvest,  and  they  were  accordingly 
adjourn'd  to  ye  second  of  July,  when  I  am  in  hopes  they  will 
perfect  what  was  left  unfinished.  I  can  venture  no  more  by 
this  uncertain  conveyance  etc.  Signed,  Ro.  Hunter.  Endorsed, 
Reed.  17th,  Read  18th.  July,  1728.  Holograph.  If  pp. 
Enclosed, 

185.  i.  List  of  Acts  passed  28th  March — 18th  April,   1728. 

Endorsed,    Reed.    17th    July,    1728.     1-1    pp.     [C.O. 

137,  17.    ff.  45,  45u.,  46u.-47i;.,  48u.] 


186.  Same  to  the  Duke  of  Newcastle.  Repeats  parts  of 
preceding  letter.  Upon  the  death  of  Lt.  Plowman  has  given 
a  commission  to  William  Bashford.  Asks  for  confirmation 
etc.  Signed,  Ro.  Hunter.  Endorsed,  R.  July  18th.  Holograph. 
2  pp.  Enclosed, 

186.  i.  Duplicate    of    preceding    enclosure.     [C.O.    137,    53. 

ff.  42,  420.,  43u. -44u.] 

187.  Governor   Montgomerie   to   the   Duke   of  Newcastle. 
Announces  his  arrival  on  15th  April,  after  a  voyage  of  five 
months.     Asks  for  a   Commission   for  Lt.    Walter  Butler,   to 
succeed  Lt.   Collins,   deed.   etc.     Refers   to  following.     Set  out, 
N.Y.  Col.  Docs.  V.  p.  855.     Signed,  J.  Montgomerie.     Endorsed, 
R.  20th  June.     Holograph.     3  pp.     Enclosed, 

187.  i.  Duplicate    of    following.     [C.O.    5,    1092.     Nos.    66, 

66  i.] 

1 88.  Same  to  Council  of  Trade  and  Plantations.     Announces 
arrival,  but  has  been  too  short  a  while  in  the  country  to  give 
an  account  of  the  state  of  the  Provinces.     Refers  to  Mr.  Burnet's 
reports.     Continues  : — The  new  Assembly  had  not  met  when 
I   arrived.     Application   was   immediately   made   to   me,    and 
the  people  of  the  best  interest  of  the  province  advis'd  me  to 
dissolve  this  new  Assembly  ;    but  I  did  not  determin  myself, 
till  I  consulted  with  every  Member  of  the  Council  singly,   and 
with   what  gentlemen   of  the   Province   were   then   in   town  : 
They   all   unanimously   and   even   Governour   Burnet   himself 
advis'd  me,  to  call  a  new  Assembly,  as  the  most  probable  way 
to  compose  differences,  and  reconcile  all  animosities  :    in  com- 
pliance with  all  their  advices,   I   dissolv'd  the  Assembly  by 
proclamation,  and  writs  are  preparing  to  summon  a  new  one 
to  meet  after  harvast.     Refers  to  Governour  Burnet's  account 


90 


COLONIAL   PAPERS. 


1728. 


of  New  Jersey  Acts  passed  in  the  last  session  etc.     Set  out, 

N.Y.  Col.   Docs.  V.     pp.   855,   856.  Signed,  J.  Montgomerie. 

Endorsed,   Reed.,   Read  20th  June,  1728.     Holograph.     3  pp. 
[C.O.  5,  1054.    ff.  277-278*;.] 


May  7. 

Whitehall, 
(incorrectly 
dated  1727). 


189.  Council  of  Trade  and  Plantations  to  Governor  Hunter. 
Acknowledge  letter  of  10th  Feb.  and  congratulate  him  upon 
his  safe  arrival  etc.  Conclude  : — We  doubt  not  but  we  shall 
soon  hear  that  those  unhappy  differences  which  have  so  long 
subsisted  in  Jamaica  are  determined  by  your  wise  and  prudent 
administration.  [C.O.  138,  17.  p.  241.] 


May  7.  1 90.  Same  to  Lt.  Govr.  Gooch.  Acknowledge  letter  etc.  of 
Whitehall.  13th  Dec.,  12th  and  15th  Feb  ;  Continue  :— We  desire  you 
will  regularly  continue  to  transmit  to  us  accounts  of  all 
occurrances  that  may  happen  within  your  Government.  We 
have,  according  to  your  desire,  recommended  Col.  Randolph 
etc.  (v.  16th  Feb.).  We  observe  in  the  Journal  of  Council  of 
4th  Nov.  last,  that  the  Receiver  General  is  ordered  to  pay 
to  you  out  of  H.M.  revenue  of  2*.  per  hogshead  the  sum  of 
£300  sterl.  ;  upon  this  occasion  we  must  take  notice  that 
altho'  by  your  43rd  Instruction  you  are  permitted  to  issue 
and  dispose  of  publick  money  by  warrant  under  your  hand, 
by  and  with  the  advice  of  the  Council ;  yet  by  your  37th 
Instruction  you  are  restrained  from  receiving  any  gift  or 
present  from  the  Assembly  or  others  on  any  account  or  in  any 
manner  whatsoever  under  pain  of  H.M.  highest  displeasure, 
and  of  being  recalled  from  your  Government.  We  are  there- 
fore at  a  loss  to  know  what  reasons  you  could  have  for  disobeying 
those  directions  which  H.M.  has  been  pleased  to  signify  to 
you  by  his  Instructions  ;  for  we  don't  by  any  means  think 
that  the  ballance  of  the  publick  revenue,  being  upwards  of 
£6000  which  you  give  to  us  as  a  reason  for  having  accepted 
of  the  aforesaid  present,  to  be  the  least  excuse.  We  observe 
what  you  write  etc.,  12th  Feb.,  in  relation  to  your  119th 
Instruction  directing  you  to  propose  a  law  to  be  passed  for 
making  the  Virginia  estates  of  bankrupts  lyable  to  the  satis- 
faction of  their  English  creditors.  But  whatever  weight  your 
reasons  against  the  same  may  have,  yet  we  cannot  think  them 
sufficient  to  excuse  you  from  complying  with  your  Instructions. 
Col.  Spots  wood  did  formerly  represent  to  us  the  advantage 
that  would  accrue  to  all  ships  using  the  Virginia  or  Maryland 
trade,  if  a  lighthouse  were  erected  at  Cape  Henry  in  Virginia, 
but  it  was  then  consid'red  that  the  duties  to  be  levy'd  for  that 
purpose  would  chiefly  affect  the  trade  and  shipping  of  this 
Kingdom,  and  the  merchts.  here  seem'd  alarm'd  at  the  said 
proposal  ;  we  therefore  desire  that  if  you  pass  any  act  for 
that  purpose,  you  will  at  least  take  care  to  insert  a  clause 


AMERICA  AND   WEST   INDIES. 


91 


1728. 


May  9. 

Whitehall. 


May  10. 

Whitehall. 


May  15. 

Whitehall. 


May  16. 

Whitehall. 


therein,  (pursuant  to  your  24th  Instruction)  to  suspend  the 
effect  of  the  said  act  till  the  same  shall  have  been  confirm'd 
by  H.M.  [C.O.  5,  1366.  pp.  2-5.] 

191.  Duke    of   Newcastle    to    the    Council    of   Trade    and 
Plantations.     His  Majesty  has  commanded  me  to  signify  to 
your  Lordships  his  pleasure,  that  you  lay  before  him  as  soon 
as  possible  a  state  of  the  possessions  of  H.M.  and  his  subjects 
in  America  which  are  disputed  by  the  King  of  Spain,  particularly 
those  of  Fort  St.  George  on  the  borders  of  S.  Carolina,  which 
the  Spaniards  pretend  to  have  been  erected  within  their  limits 
of  the  Island  of  Providence  and  the  rest  of  the  Bahama  Islands  ; 
and  of  a  settlement  which  they  say  H.M.  subjects  have  made 
at  the  Laguna  de  Terminis  in  the  Bay  of  Campeachy  :    and  in 
your  Representation,  you  will  set  forth  the  proofs  and  arguments 
that  may  be  made  use  of  to  support  the  rights  of  H.M.  and 
his  subjects,  and  take  notice  of  the  time  when  those  places 
or  settlements  were  first  possest  by  H.M.  subjects,  and  how 
far    such    possession    has    been    confirmed    by    the    Treaty    of 
Utrecht,   the   Quadruple  Alliance   of  any  other  Treaty  made 
between  the  two  Crowns.     H.M.  would  also  have  you  collect 
together  and  lay  before  him,  the  complaints  that  are  come  to 
your  knowledge  upon  which  redress  has  not  yet  been  obtained, 
of  injurys  done  by  the  Spaniards,  to  H.M.  subjects  in  America 
or  trading  thither,  as  the  seizing  of  their  ships  and  effects  by 
the  Guards  de  Costes  and  other  Spanish  vessels  ;    and  other 
depredations    and   acts    of  violence   and   injustice    committed 
on  the  part  of  Spain  and  the  loss  and  damage  sustained  thereby. 
Signed,  Holies  Newcastle.     Endorsed,  Reed.,  Read  10th  May, 
1728.     If  pp.     [C.O.  323,  8.     ATo.  90.] 

1 92.  Mr.  Popple  to  Mr.  Fane.     Asks  for  his  opinion  whether 
the  renewal  of  Mr.   Worsley's  Commission,   whereby  his  late 
Majesty's  Commission  is  revoked,  does  not  cause  a  determination 
of  his  Government  within  the  meaning  of  an  Act  of  Barbados, 
1723,  for  supporting  the  honour  and  dignity  of  the  Government 
and  whereby  a  salary  was  settled  on  him  until  the  determination 
of  his  Government.     [C.O.  29,  15.     p.  22.] 

1 93.  Council  of  Trade  and  Plantations  to  Governor  Phenney. 
Acknowledge  letters  etc.  of  20th  April  and  5th  Dec.     Continue  : — 
We  have  again  wrote  to  the  Duke  of  Newcastle  in  relation  to 
the  stores  of  war  etc.,  and  hope  that  speedy  directions  will  be 
given   to   the   proper   officers   for   sending   you   the   necessary 
supplies.     [C.O.  24,  1.     p.  97.] 

194.  Extract  of  a  letter  from  the  Duke  of  Newcastle  to 
Mr.  Walpole.     I  am  commanded  by  H.M.  to  transmit  to  your 
Excellency    the  folloiving     "  concerning    some    late    encroach- 


92  COLONIAL   PAPERS. 

1728. 

ments  made  by  the  French  upon  the  Islands  of  Sta.  Lucia  and 
St.  Vincent."  Continues  : — The  pretensions  of  the  French  to 
these  Islands  have  always  been  thought  here  to  be  without 
any  foundation,  and  when  they  were  revived  in  1722  upon 
the  occasion  of  the  grant  thereof  etc.  to  the  Duke  of  Montagu, 
Mr.  Daniel  Pulteney  etc.,  was  sent  express  to  the  French  Court 
to  explain  and  assert  the  right  of  the  Crown  of  Great  Britain 
to  these  two  Islands,  and  had  several  conferences  with  the 
French  Ministers  upon  the  subject  of  his  Commission,  but 
through  the  multiplicity  of  other  affairs  then  depending  at 
that  Court,  the  matter  in  question  was  not  brought  to  any 
determination,  however  the  farther  discussion  of  it  was  reserved 
to  another  fit  opportunity  ;  and  in  the  mean  time  till  such 
an  opportunity  should  offer  it  was  at  least  expected,  that 
things  should  remain  in  the  same  situation  they  were  in,  and 
that  no  new  attempts  would  be  made  by  the  French  to  settle 
those  Islands.  For  your  more  thorough  information  I  send 
you  a  copy  of  the  Instructions  which  were  given  to  Mr.  Pulteney 
upon  that  occasion,  together  with  a  Representation  of  the 
Lords  Commissioners  of  Trade,  wherein  H.M.  right  to  those 
Islands  is  clearly  and  fully  set  forth,  as  likewise  the  memorial 
of  the  Sieur  Destouches,  who  was  then  charged  with  the  affairs 
of  France  at  this  Court,  wherein  he  asserts  the  right  of  the 
Crown  of  France  to  the  said  Islands.  And  from  the  whole  I 
doubt  not,  but  your  Excellency  will  be  able  to  set  this  affair 
in  so  clear  a  light,  that  the  Court  of  France  may  be  convinced 
they  ought  not  to  proceed  in  the  manner  they  do,  without 
any  regard  to  H.M.  title  to  the  said  Islands,  especially  as  no 
title  to  them  has  yet  been  made  appear  on  the  part  of  France. 
In  the  doing  whereof  H.M.  would  have  you  act  in  the  same 
amicable  manner  as  in  the  former  part  of  this  letter  you  are 
directed  to  do.  But  as  the  inclosed  papers  will  shew  you  the 
undoubted  right  of  H.M.  to  these  Islands,  and  likewise  the 
necessity  of  asserting  that  right  both  for  the  benefit  of  our 
trade  and  the  security  of  H.M.  other  Charibbee  Islands,  I  am 
to  recommend  it  to  your  Excellency  to  make  the  proper 
instances  that  this  dispute  may  be  determined  according  to 
the  rules  of  Justice,  and  that  a  stop  may  be  put  to  any  further 
incroachments  on  those  Islands.  Copy.  If  pp.  Enclosed, 

194.  i.  Council  of  Trade  and  Plantations  to  the  Duke  of 
Newcastle,  Feb.  9,  1728.  q.v. 

194.  ii.  Deposition  of  John  Ridley,  28th  Nov.,  1727. 
Copy.  If  pp. 

194.  iii.  John  Bennet,  merchant  in  Barbados,  to  the  Duke 
of  Montagu,  30th  Nov.,  1727.  Copy.  l£  pp.  [C.O. 
28,  39.  Nos.  43,  43  i-iii.] 

May  16.         195.     Mr.  Popple  to  Mr.  Attorney  and  Mr.  Solicitor  General. 
Whitehall.     The   Governors  of  H.M.   Plantations  are  directed  to  observe 


AMERICA   AND   WEST   INDIES. 


93 


1728. 


May  16. 

Jamaica. 


the  inclos'd  Instruction  (relating  to  the  5th  and  6th  Articles  of 
the  Treaty  of  Neutrality  with  the  French  in  America),  but  there 
having  been  some  doubt  concerning  the  legality  thereof ;  my 
Lords  Commissioners  desire  your  opinion  thereupon  as  soon 
as  may  be.  [C.O.  324,  11.  p.  103.] 

196.  Governor  Hunter  to  the  Council  of  Trade  and 
Plantations.  I  embrace  this  first  opportunity  that  has  offer'd 
since  the  meeting  of  our  Assembly,  to  give  your  Lordships  an 
account  of  their  proceedings  and  it  is  a  particular  satisfaction 
to  me  that  I  can  acquaint  your  Lordships  that  in  all  their 
deliberations  and  debates  they  have  behaved  with  moderation 
and  calmness  and  with  a  due  deference  to  the  King's  authority, 
and  I  must  really  do  them  the  justice  to  say  that  they  have 
dispatched  the  most  material  business  I  recommended  to  them 
in  as  short  a  time  as  could  possibly  be  expected,  after  which 
they  desir'd  me  to  give  them  a  short  recess,  it  being  their 
crop-time.  I  did  accordingly  on  the  eighteenth  of  the  last 
month  adjourn  them  to  the  second  of  July  next,  at  which 
time  I  have  no  reason  to  doubt  but  they  will  meet  and  accomp- 
lish what  remains  unfinished  and  recommended  to  them  for 
the  good  of  their  country.  Encloses  Minutes  of  Council  and 
of  Assembly  and  seven  Acts,  vizt.  (i)  An  Act  for  granting  a 
revenue  to  H.M.  for  the  support  of  the  Government  and  for  reviving 
and  perpetuating  the  acts  and  laws  etc.  I  have  carefully  com- 
pared this  Act  with  the  draught  formerly  transmitted  to  the 
Duke  of  Portland  and  find  it  agreeable  thereto  in  most  things 
literally  but  in  everything  as  to  it's  material  substance,  except 
in  such  particulars  as  I  was  impowered  by  my  Instructions  to 
leave  out  and  the  words  which  perpetuate  the  laws  in  this 
Act  are  synonymous  to  those  used  in  the  draught.  And  I  am 
of  opinion  that  the  Revenue  thereby  granted  will  effectually 
answer  the  sume  of  £8000  a  year,  altho'  the  duty  on  indigo 
and  sugar  should  by  any  accident  fall  short  of  the  sume 
mentioned  in  the  estimate  annext  to  the  draught.  For  I  am 
now  taking  such  measures  to  have  an  exact  rent  roll  made 
of  H.M.  Quit-rents  and  for  the  more  effectual  and  speedy 
collection  thereof  that  I  have  great  reason  to  believe  the  quit 
rent  will  at  least  raise  double  the  sume  reckoned  in  the  said 
estimate,  so  that  the  surpluss  of  the  quit  rents  will  at  all  events 
make  good  deficiencies  which  possibly  may  happen  in  the 
other  branches  of  the  Revenue  ;  Besides  there  is  an  express 
clause  of  credit  incerted  in  this  Act,  whereby  the  faith  of  the 
Country  is  engaged  to  make  good  any  deficiency  in  the  funds 
appropriated  to  the  Revenue,  and  it  has  been  seldom  known, 
where  the  publick  faith  has  been  engaged  by  a  vote  of  the 
Assembly  they  have  let  the  publick  suffer,  much  less  when 
solemnly  promised  and  engaged  by  a  law.  I  have  therefore 
given  my  assent  to  this  bill  and  cannot  but  earnestly  recom- 


94  COLONIAL   PAPERS. 

1728. 

mend  it  to  your  Lordships  for  H.M.  Royal  approbation,  (ii) 
An  act  for  raising  several  sums  of  money  and  applying  the  same 
to  several  uses.  This  is  an  annual  bill  and  I  have  succeeded  in 
having  a  clause  incerted  in  favour  of  the  South  Sea  Company, 
pursuant  to  the  additional  Instruction  which  was  given  me  for 
that  purpose.  By  this  Act  the  South  Sea  Company  pays  no 
duty  for  negroes  but  such  as  they  shall  actually  dispose  of  in 
this  Island  ;  This  was  a  difficult  point  to  get  over,  the  people 
of  the  country  having  an  aversion  to  that  Company,  they 
say  it  deprives  the  separate  traders  from  the  advantages  they 
formerly  had  before  the  South  Sea  Factory  was  settled  here. 
The  rest  of  this  bill  is  much  to  the  same  purpose  with  those 
passed  by  former  Governours  from  year  to  year  under  the 
same  title,  (iii)  An  act  to  oblige  the  several  inhabitants  to 
provide  themselves  with  a  sufficient  number  of  white  people,  or  pay 
certain  sums  of  money  in  case  they  shall  be  deficient  and  applying 
the  same  to  several  uses  and  for  repairing  the  wall  of  Port  Royal. 
This  is  likewise  an  annual  law  and  in  which  ample  provision 
is  made  not  only  for  all  arrears  due  to  the  officers  and  soldiers 
belonging  to  the  two  Independent  Companies  during  the  late 
cessation  of  the  laws,  but  also  for  their  subsistance  for  the 
ensuing  year  ;  I  could  not  possibly  prevaile  with  the  Assembly 
to  pass  it  for  a  longer  time.  They  give  for  reasons,  that  they 
by  this  instance  as  well  as  their  disposition  to  subsist  those  two 
Companies  demonstrate  their  good  will  to  them,  and  do  give 
me  the  utmost  assurances  that  they  will  continue  such  their 
subsistance  from  year  to  year,  whilst  the  said  Companies  are 
kept  among  them,  in  which  I  believe  them  sincere,  because  the 
soldiers  are  usefull  in  guarding  the  fortifycations  at  Port  Royal 
and  keeping  guard  in  this  town,  which  the  inhabitants  would 
otherwise  be  obliged  to  do  ;  They  likewise  say  that  the  providing 
for  the  soldiers  in  this  manner  by  annual  bills  is  most  agreeable 
to  the  common  practice  in  England  and  therefore  desire  to 
assimilate  themselves  as  near  as  may  be  to  their  mother  country, 
(iv)  An  Act  for  raising  a  tax  by  the  poll  and  on  trades  and  applying 
the  same  to  several  uses.  This  Act  is  intended,  as  set  forth  in 
the  preamble,  to  raise  an  additional  salary  for  me.  This 
method  the  Assembly  conceived  was  easier  to  the  country  and 
answered  the  ends  as  well  as  that  in  the  Duke  of  Portland's 
time,  and  indeed  the  main  end  of  keeping  a  Governour 
independt.  of  them  for  his  yearly  subsistance  is  answered  ; 
he  being  thus  enabled  to  rent  or  purchase  and  stock  a  pasture 
farm  without  which  there  is  no  keeping  house  in  this  country  ; 
H.M.  by  his  Instructions  is  pleased  to  permit  that  the  Assembly 
by  any  Act  or  Acts  may  settle  such  sum  or  sums  in  addition 
to  my  salary  as  they  shall  think  proper,  notwithstanding  any 
clause  or  clauses  in  the  20th  Instruction  provided  it  be  done 
by  the  first  Assembly  within  the  year  and  during  the  whole 
time  of  my  administration ;  so  I  humbly  hope  your  Lordships 


AMERICA   AND   WEST   INDIES.  95 

1728. 

will  be  of  opinion  that  in  giving  my  assent  to  this  Act,  I  have 
in  nothing  essential  departed  from  my  Instructions,  (v)  An 
Act  for  the  more  effectual  and  speedy  collecting  of  the  several 
outstanding  publick  debts  of  this  island.  There  being  very 
considerable  sums  of  money  due  to  the  Government  both  on 
the  revenue  and  other  publick  funds,  the  Assembly  have 
thought  proper  on  my  recommendation  to  apply  all  those 
arrears  for  the  payment  of  the  publick  debts,  and  this  bill 
prescribes  the  most  effectual  method  for  the  collection  of 
them  ;  so  that  the  utility  of  this  Act  is  so  apparent,  that  it 
carries  in  itself  sufficient  reasons  for  my  assenting  to  it.  (vi) 
An  Act  for  the  reviving  and  continuing  of  process  and  to  prevent 
disputes  at  law  concerning  the  registering  of  deeds  and  patents 
and  for  confirming  of  bonds  taken  in  the  Secretary's  Office,  (vii) 
To  enable  such  of  the  Parishes  as  have  not  already  chose  their 
parish  officers  nor  laid  their  parish  taxes,  to  do  the  same  in  prefixed 
times,  altho?  the  times  appointed  for  doing  thereof  be  already 
elapsed.  The  titles  and  preambles  fully  explaine  the  meaning 
and  design  of  the  two  last  Acts  etc.,  without  which  the  reviveing 
of  the  laws  by  the  Revenue  bill  could  have  been  of  little 
immediate  service  to  the  Island  ;  and  there  being  nothing  in 
the  said  bills  contained  injurious  to  H.M.  Prerogative,  I  readily 
gave  my  consent  to  them.  These  are  all  the  bills  that  have 
hitherto  been  presented  to  me  for  my  assent,  but  there  are 
many  other  good  bills  under  the  consideration  of  the  House, 
such  as  re-establishing  credit,  and  a  more  speedy  way  of 
reducing  the  rebellious  negroes  ;  These  with  some  other  matters 
of  importance  I  hope  to  get  accomplished  at  the  Assembly's 
next  meeting  etc.  Encloses  duplicate  of  Act  passed  in  the 
Duke  of  Portland's  time  entitled,  an  explanatory  act  for  the 
further  encouraging  the  settling  the  parish  of  Portland,  "  which 
I  never  saw  nor  heard  of  till  I  came  to  this  country,  otherwise 
I  should  have  sollicited  H.M.  approbation  of  it  before  I  left 
England  ;  for  unless  it  is  confirm'd  I  am  afraid  the  settlements 
of  that  part  of  the  country,  which  is  of  great  importance  to  us, 
will  meet  with  obstructions  and  delays  "  etc.  Continues : — 
The  Council  and  Assembly  have  join'd  in  a  dutifull  Address 
to  H.M.,  which  I  have  by  this  conveyance  transmitted  to  the 
Secretary  of  State.  The  Fox  man  of  warr  arrived  here  about 
ten  days  ago  with  orders  for  Admiral  Hopson,  who  is  at  present 
with  most  of  the  squadron  on  the  coast  of  Cartagena,  but  are 
daily  expected  here.  The  Spaniards  continue  to  fit  out 
privateers  especially  from  St.  Jago  on  Cuba  and  they  take  every 
ship  and  vessel  belonging  to  us  they  can  make  themselves  mas- 
ters of ;  which  is  a  great  obstruction  to  trade.  P.S.  Last  night 
Admiral  Hopson's  corpse  arrived  here  from  the  coast  of  Cartagena 
on  board  the  Leopard  man  of  warr  ;  He  removed  from  on  board 
his  own  ship  the  Lyon,  that  ship  being  very  sickly  and  the  day 


96  COLONIAL   PAPERS. 

1728. 

after  was  seizd  with  a  feaver  and  died  in  a  few  days.  I  am 
informed  that  the  rest  of  the  squadron  are  tolerably  well. 
Signed,  Ro.  Hunter.  Endorsed,  Reed.  19th,  Read  23rd  July, 
1728.  8  pp.  [C.O.  137,  17.  ff.  49—520.,  540.] 

May  17.  1 97.  Governor  Hunter  to  the  Duke  of  Newcastle.  Refers  to 
Jamaica,  enclosed  duplicate  of  letter  to  Council  of  Trade,  May  16  supra. 
Continues  :  I  dare  not,  till  I  am  better  inform'd  and  acquainted, 
venture  to  recommend  any  persons  for  the  Adminr.  in  case  of  my 
death,  by  virtue  of  a  dormant  commission,  tho'  to  prevent  new 
disorders  I  cannot  help  thinking  such  precaution  may  not  be 
amisse,  for  although  I  think  the  gentleman  in  who's  hands  it 
was  at  my  arriveal  can  not  be  accus'd,  as  far  as  I  am  inform'd, 
of  any  thing  illegal,  yet  what  by  means  of  probable  fewds  and 
resentments  and  the  contempt  and  little  regard  the  generality 
have  for  him,  I  can  not  think  him  a  proper  person  for  that 
trust.  I  thank  God  I  enjoy  better  health  then  I  have  done  for 
for  some  years  pass'd  so  there  is  in  appearance  no  immediate 
necessity  for  that  precaution.  Upon  the  whole,  I  think  the 
Assembly  here  if  manag'd  by  a  gentle  hand  may  be  brought 
to  do  their  duty  in  ev'ry  thing  with  relation  to  H.M.  Government 
and  the  good  of  the  countrey.  An  unforeseen  and  unsuspected 
opposition,  which  I  am  almost  asham'd  to  mention,  had  like  to 
have  embroil'd  all  again,  but  as  I  gott  in  some  measure  the  better 
of  it,  I  shall  not  trouble  your  Grace  with  it.  I  have  however 
explain'd  this  to  Mr.  Delafay.  The  Spaniards  have  several 
privateers  on  the  cruize  which  much  disturb  our  trade  and  take 
every  vessel  they  come  up  with.  Refers  to  Admiral  Hopson's 
death  etc.  (v.  preceding),  and  to  enclosed  Address,  "  which  I 
beg  your  Grace  to  gett  presented  wt.  the  humble  and  hearty 
assurances  of  their  duty  and  loyalty."  Signed,  Ro.  Hunter. 
Endorsed,  R.  July  20.  Holograph.  3  pp.  Enclosed, 

197.  i.  Address  of  Council  and  Assembly  of  Jamaica,  April  3, 
1728  to  the  King.  Condole  with  H.M.  on  loss  of  his 
royal  Father,  whilst  heartily  congratulating  him  on 
his  accession.  "  The  many  early  instances  of  your 
Majesty's  goodness  must  give  your  subjects  the  greatest 
assurances  of  happiness,  and  what  quiet,  what 
content  must  they  enjoy  who  are  more  immediately 
in  your  presence,  when  we  whom  Fortune  has  removed 
by  a  very  distant  scituation  are  so  sensible  of  the 
happy  influences  of  your  Government."  Express 
appreciation  of  Governor  Hunter's  appointment  etc., 
and  sentiments  of  duty  and  loyalty  etc.  Signed,  Tho. 
Beckford,  Speaker  ;  Jos.  Maxwell,  Cl.  Council.  1  large 
folded  p. 

197  ii.  Duplicate,  No.  196.  Endorsed,  Rd.  July  20.  [C.O. 
137,  53.  ff.  46— 470.,  480.,  49,  50—54,  550.] 


AMERICA   AND   WEST   INDIES. 


97 


1728. 
May  17. 

Jamaica. 


May  17. 

Jamaica. 


May  17. 


May  17. 
Whitehall 


198.  Governor  Hunter  to  Mr.  Stanyan.     Refers  to  former 
letters  and  repeats  gist  of  letters  of  16th  and  17th  May,  supra. 
Signed,  Ro.  Hunter.    Endorsed,  Rd.  July  17.    Holograph.    3  pp. 
[C.O.  137,  53.  ff.  56—57*;.] 

199.  Same  to  the  Duke  of  Newcastle.     Capt.  St.  Loe  now 
commanding  in  Admiral    Hopson's    room,    recommends    him, 
"  as  honest  a  gentleman  and  good  an  officer  as  any  in  the 
Service,   one  very  acceptable  to  all   here    and  well  deserving 
promotion  "  etc.    Signed,   Ro.    Hunter.    Endorsed,  R.  July  20. 
Holograph.      1  p.    [C.O.  137,  53.    ff.  58,  59u.] 

200.  President  Middleton  to  the  Duke  of  Newcastle.    Had 
hoped  some  notice  would  have  been  taken  ere  now  of  his  letter 
of  31st  June  last  to  Governor  Nicholson,  which  was  laid  before 
H.M.  in  Council  etc.     For  want  thereof,  the  people  continue  in 
their  riotous  dispositions,  and  are  daily  affronting  the  Govern- 
ment etc.    Repeats  proceedings  of  Assembly  as  in  the  Representa- 
tion which  he  is  now  preparing  with  the  Council  (v.  July  2nd,  1729). 
Concludes  : — If  such  a  petty  Colony  as  this,  are  suffered  to  run 
on  at  this  rate,  etc.,  daily  affronting  the  Royall  authority  and 
his    Representatives    here   etc.,    and   that   without   the   least 
censure  from  home  etc.,  I  know  not  where  will  be  the  end  of 
these  things.     Signed,  Ar.  Middleton.     Endorsed,  R.  4th  June. 
2  pp.     Enclosed, 

200.  i.  Bill  (sent  up  from  the  Assembly,  S.  Carolina)  to  prevent 
the  many  evils  etc.  from  the  unsettled  state  of  the  paper 
currency  etc.  Copy.  Signed,  Char.  Hart,  Secry.  1  p. 

200  ii.  Bill  to  promote  the  currency  of  silver  and  gold  by  affixing 
the  value  thereof  in  the  present  paper  currency  etc.  Copy. 
Signed,  Wm.  Bull,  Cl.  Cone.  1  p. 

200.  iii.  Bill  to  promote  the  importation  of  gold  and  make  it 
current  etc.  Copy.  Signed,  Char.  Hart,  Secry.  1  p. 

200.  iv.  Bill  to  ascertain  the  discount  on  the  paper  bills  of  credit 
etc.  Copy.  Signed,  Benja.  de  la  Conseillere.  1  p. 

200.  v.  Minutes  of  Council  in  Assembly  of  S.  Carolina,  4th— 
llth  May,  1728,  with  Proclamation  for  dissolving 
Assembly,  llth  May.  Copy.  Signed,  Wm.  Tinley,  Cl. 
Cone.  5pp. 

200.  vi.  Bill  to  ascertain  the  value  of  the  paper  bills  and  to 

promote  the  currency  of  gold  and  silver.   Copy.  Signed  as 
preceding.   1  p.   [C.O.  5,  306.  Nos.  80,  80.  i— vi.] 

201 .  Council  of  Trade  and  Plantations  to  the  Lords  Com- 
missioners of  the  Treasury.  The  Board  of  Works  upon  surveying 
this  Office,  in  order  to  secure  the  same  when  they  pull'd  down 
the  partition  wall  lately  repair'd,  do  find  the  South  West  wall, 
almost  in  as  bad  a  condition  as  that  which  they  have  taken 
down  ;  and  as  we  are  inform'd  that  the  repairing  the  same  will 

q.p.xxxvj-7 


98 


COLONIAL   PAPERS. 


1728. 

not  be  attended  with  much  expence,  we  desire  your  Lordships  will 
please  to  give  the  necessary  directions  for  this  repair,  whilst  the 
workmen  are  going  forward  with  the  other,  that  we  may  not  be 
oblig'd  to  remove  a  second  time  out  of  our  Office.  [C.O.  389, 
37.  p.  290.] 

May  17.         202.     Mr.  Popple  to  Mr.  Fane.      Encloses,  for  his    opinion 
Whitehall,     in  point  of  law,  two  acts  of  S.  Carolina.  [C.O.  5,  400.  p.  238.] 

[May  17.]  203.  List  of  inhabitants  of  Bermuda,  1727.  By  parishes. 
Totals:  Whites,  Men,  910,  Women,  1768,  boys,  1261,  girls, 
1131.  Blacks,  men,  787,  women,  945,  boys  1158,  girls,  987. 
Endorsed,  Reed,  (from  Col.  Hope),  Read  17th  May,  1728.  1  p. 
[C.O.  37,  12.  //.  9,  10.] 

[May  17.]  204.  Copies  of  assessments  in  the  9  tribes  of  Bermuda,  in 
1727,  pursuant  to  the  Act  for  raising  money  for  the  fortifica- 
tions. Endorsed  as  preceding.  25pp.  [C.O.  37,  12.  ff.  11 — 30t>.] 


May  19. 

Jamaica. 


May  20. 

Antego. 


205.  Governor  Hunter  to  Mr.  Popple.  I  have  apply 'd  to  the 
D.  of  Newcastle  and  beg  you'll  for  me  apply  to  their  Losps.  for 
a  letter  constituting  Alexr.  Forbes  Esq.   of  ye  Council  he  is 
Provost  Marshal  but  acts  by  a  Deputy.     I  am  frequently  put 
to't  for  want  of  a  Quorum  many  of  ye  Council  live  at  such  a 
distance.    And  Pusy  has  been  several  years  absent  and  in  jayl 
and  indeed  as  I  am  told  never  was  fitt  for  the  trust.   We  cannot 
spare  the  Atty.  Genl.  from  the  Assembly  as  yet.     Make  my 
excuse  to  their  Losps.  for  having  omitted  this  in  mine  to  them. 
I  shall  send  a  list  of  twelve  when  I  am  better  acquainted    at 
present  I  cannot  do't  but  by  guesse.    Signed,  Ro.  Hunter.    En- 
dorsed, Reed.  20th  July,  Read  13th  Nov.,  1728.     Holograph. 
1  p.    [C.O.  137,  17.    ff.  82,  83  v.] 

206.  Lt.    General   Mathew   to   the    Council   of  Trade   and 
Plantations.    Is  sending  to  Mr.  Yeamans,  Agent  for  the  island, 
two  acts  to  be  laid  before  the  Board,  (i)  for  laying  a  duty  of 
powder  and  money  on  all  vessells  trading  to  or  from  this  island  for 
the  defence  of  the  island  and  the  protection  of  trade  etc.     (ii)  for 
raising  a  tax  for  paying  publick  debts  etc.,  and  particularly  apply- 
ing the  said  tax.    The  first  in  the  preamble  remedy s  the  objections 
your  Lops,  were  pleased  to  make  to  the  former  act  to  this 
purpose.    The  second  is  a  levy  in  the  same  terms  and  provisoes 
as  usual.     Mr.  Meure  writes  me  Mr.  Willett  has  complained  of 
me  to  your  Lops.     I  did  not  beleive  he  would,  and  when  your 
Lops,  permitt  me  to  reply,  I  hope  you  will  think  I  ought  to  have 
been  the  complainant.     He  and  I  are  come  to  a  better  under- 
standing some  months  ago,  till  I  see  my  crimes  as  recited  by 
him,  I  can  say  nothing  to  it.     I  have  been  so  very  ill,  and  my 


AMERICA   AND   WEST   INDIES. 


99 


1728. 


May  20. 

Barbados. 


distemper  still  so  affects  my  head  and  nerves,  that  writing  is 
very  irksome  to  me.  I  would  not  miss  this  conveyance.  But 
pray  your  Lops,  will  excuse  this  being  so  short  and  no  better 
writt.  Signed,  William  Mathew.  Endorsed,  Reed.  9th  Sept., 
1728,  Read  28th  March,  1729.  2  pp.  [C.O.  152,  17.  ff.  7,  8,  &>.] 

207.  Governor  Worsley  to  the  Duke  of  Newcastle.  About 
the  beginning  of  Janry,  last  I  heard  that  some  Gentlemen  of  the 
Assembly  had  met  privately,  tho'  they  were  then  prorogu'd,  and 
had  drawn  up  some  complaint  against  me  to  the  Lords  of  Trade, 
and  that  one  particular  was  in  relation  to  the  powder  in  the 
Magazine.  I  did  not  then  think  fit  to  trouble  your  Grace  about 
a  report,  for  which  I  was  convinced  in  my  conscience  there  was 
no  grounds,  nor  could  I  think  they  would  style  themselves  an 
Assembly  after  I  had  prorogued  them,  however,  I  wrote  to  my 
Agent  Mr.  Sharpe  a  short  account  of  the  powder,  in  order  to  lay 
it  before  your  Grace  in  case  they  should  have  made  any  such 
complaint,  and  having  since  heard  from  private  letters  from 
England  that  it  was  there  reported,  that  they  had  not  only 
complained  of  the  want  of  gunpowder  in  the  magazine,  but  also 
of  my  negligence  in  relation  to  the  Militia  and  the  fortificacons, 
and  of  my  granting  injunctions  unlawfully  in  Chancery  ;  I  beg 
leave,  tho'  I  have  not  yet  seen  a  copy  of  the  complaint,  to  repre- 
sent to  your  Grace  what  I  have  done  upon  all  those  heads. 
Upon  the  complaints  and  uneasiness  of  the  inhabitants  of 
Bridgetown  on  occasion  of  the  ruinous  condition  of  the  Magazine 
there,  I  gave  orders  the  10th  of  July,  1725  (copies  enclosed)  to  the 
Storekeeper  Collo.  William  Leslie,  to  deliver,  to  the  several 
Captains  of  the  forts,  Needham,  Oistins,  and  Speights,  100 
barrells  of  powder  each,  to  be  kept  there  entire  till  my  further 
orders,  and  finding  the  magazine  daily  growing  in  a  worse  con- 
dition, I  ordered,  the  23rd  Sept.  following,  200  barrells  more  to 
be  lodged  in  the  same  manner  at  Needhams  Fort,  the  whole 
quantity  of  powder  removed  weighed  neat  501,47  pounds  which 
makes  501  barrls.  and  47  Ib.  the  other  aforementd.  two  maga- 
zines not  being  capable  of  containing  more  than  what  I  had 
already  lodged  in  them  ;  The  15th  Feb  following,  the  Assembly 
were  so  sensible  of  the  ruinous  condition  of  the  old  Magazine,  that 
they  passed  a  bill  for  erecting  a  new  one  etc.,  transmitted  27th 
April,  1726,  the  preamble  of  which  is  as  follows  ; — Whereas  the 
present  magazine  etc.  is  in  a  very  ruinous  condition  and  the  pow- 
der and  other  stores  therein  have  already  been  damnified  thereby, 
and  the  said  magazine  is  very  inconveniently  situated,  and  the 
lives  and  fortunes  of  H.M.  subjects  etc.  are  in  apparent  danger 
from  the  great  quantity's  of  gun  powder  usually  kept  in  the 
said  magazine."  What  quantity  of  powder  the  complainants 
may  have  represented  to  be  in  the  magazine,  I  can't  tell,  but 
it  is  amazing  to  see  them  prevaricate  in  their  complaints,  if  what 
I  am  told  is  true,  by  saying  that  there  were  but  so  many  barrls, 


100  COLONIAL   PAPERS. 

1728. 

of  powder  in  this  Island,  because  there  was  no  more  in  the 
magazine,  when  the  whole  town  and  island  could  not  but  know, 
that  I  had  removed  it  for  their  own  safetys,  before  the  passing 
of  the  abovesaid  bill,  and  if  I  had  not  done  it,  the  old  Magazine, 
during  the  late  earthquakes,  probably  would  have  fallen 
with  that  quantity  of  powder  in  it,  which  would  have 
occasioned  the  utter  ruin  of  the  town,  for  the  Magazine  was  so 
ruined  that  in  the  pulling  of  it  down,  it  fell,  and  in  October  last, 
the  new  Magazine  was  not  fit  to  receive  the  powder,  as  your 
Grace  will  perceive  by  the  inclosed  report  etc.,  so  that  the  under- 
taker is  now  obliged  to  rebuild  it  after  a  better  manner,  which 
will  not  be  finished  till  about  a  month  hence  whence  I  could 
not  have  returned  the  powder,  and  the  late  Storekeeper  Collo. 
Leslie  is  obliged  to  keep  in  his  hands  above  100  barrells  more 
of  powder  upon  his  own  risque  till  the  Magazine  is  finished.  In 
Sept.  1723  I  had  the  honor  of  sending  lists  of  the  stores,  and  of 
the  state  of  the  fortifications  in  this  Island,  to  the  Secretary  of 
State,  Lords  of  Trade  and  board  of  Ordnance,  in  the  account  of 
the  stores  which  was  taken  on  8th  Feb.  1723  which  was  imme- 
diately after  my  arrival  here,  there  was  but  564  barlls.  and  83 
pounds  of  powder  then  in  the  magazine,  and  notwithstanding 
there  was  110  barrells  of  gunpowder  spent  in  the  several 
divisions  in  this  Island,  when  His  present  Majesty  was  pro- 
claimed, I  guess  there  is  now  about  700  barrells,  but  for  the 
satisfaction  of  the  Island,  the  20th  of  Feb.  last,  I  ordered  in 
Council  Mr.  Lightfoot,  who  is  the  Chairman  of  the  Committee  of 
Public  Accounts,  to  make  up  the  late  Storekeeper's  accounts,  as 
appears  by  the  the  Minutes  of  Council  which  accompanies  this, 
whence  it  will  appear  if  any  powder  has  been  imbezelled,  or  not ; 
I  must  now  beg  leave  to  shew  your  Grace,  that  according  to  the 
constitution  of  this  Island,  the  Storekeeper  is  nominated  by  the 
Assembly,  and  when  approved  by  the  Governour,  before  he  can 
execute  his  office,  must  give  a  bond  of  £2000  sterling  for  the  true 
and  faithfull  execution  thereof,  as  appears  by  an  Act  of  1697  to 
ascertain  the  duties  of  masters  of  ships,  etc.,  so  that  the  Governour 
has  nothing  more  to  do  with  the  powder  than  to  issue  his  orders 
for  delivering  it  when  occasion  requires.  As  to  the  complaints  in 
relation  to  the  Militia,  I  must  refer  myself  to  an  Act  for  the 
settlement  of  Militia,  1697  etc.,  whereby  the  Militia  are  to  be 
exercised  once  a  month  in  time  of  war,  and  once  in  two  months  in 
time  of  peace  and  no  oftner,  and  that  the  several  Collos.  have  by 
this  Act  the  sole  power  of  fining  defaulters,  hearing  all  com- 
plaints, and  of  giving  redress  according  to  the  merit  of  the  cause, 
tho'  at  the  same  time  they  are  not  obliged,  under  any  penalty, 
to  do  it ;  even  in  granting  commissions  the  Governor's  power  is 
restrained,  for  by  the  same  Act  no  person  is  held  capable  of 
being  Field  Officer,  unless  he  has  a  freehold  of  100  acres  of  land, 
and  no  person  shall  be  admitted  a  Captain,  unless  he  has  a  free- 
hold of  40  acres  at  least ;  according  to  the  settlement  of  the  Mill- 


AMERICA   AND   WEST   INDIES.  101 

1728. 

tia  by  this  Act,  I  can't  imagine  what  grounds  of  complaint  they 
can  have  against  me,  I  have  indeed  ordered  them  to  be  exercised 
once  a  month,  in  that,  whilst  there  is  only  a  cessation  of  arms, 
it  can't  be  properly  called  a  time  of  peace  ;  so  far  was  I 
from  being  thought  negligent  upon  the  head  of  Militia,  that, 
till  lately,  this  was  complained  of,  as  if  I  had  acted  contrary 
to  law.  As  to  their  complaint  of  my  neglect  of  the  fortifi- 
cations, I  have  never  failed  of  representing,  to  every  Assembly, 
the  ruinous  condition  they  are  in,  and  of  recommending  to  them, 
the  raising  money  for  the  repairing  them.  As  to  my  granting 
injunctions  in  Chancery  unlawfully,  I  am  at  a  loss  to  know  what 
they  mean  ;  upon  my  arrival,  I  found  that  writts  of  injunction 
were  granted  till  the  merrits  of  the  cause  should  be  heard,  even 
after  judgment  in  the  lower  Courts,  whence,  sometimes  the  cause 
did  not  come  to  be  heard  in  four  or  five  years  ;  I  grant  such  injunc- 
tions till  answer  and  further  order,  by  this  means,  in  two  months 
time  by  motion,  it  may  come  before  the  Court  of  Chancery,  and 
upon  hearing  the  merits  of  the  petition,  the  injunction  may  be 
continued  or  dissolved  ;  hitherto  it  has  been  the  practice  of  the 
Court  of  Chancery  in  this  Island  not  to  give  costs  together  with 
the  decree,  but  was  afterwards  prayed  for  by  motion,  whence 
motions  for  costs,  (besides  the  extraordinary  expence  that 
attends  them)  have  sometimes  lain  a  considerable  time,  till  they 
come  in  course  to  be  heard  ;  I  have  now  joyntly  with  the  Court 
made  a  rule,  that  for  the  future,  costs  shall  be  given  with  the 
decree,  this  will  prevent  delays,  and  be  of  great  ease  to  the 
people.  P.S.  Having  seen  a  book  of  exercise  for  the  horse, 
dragoon  and  foot  forces  lately  publish'd,  by  H.M. 'command,  I 
have  ordered  the  several  Collos.  here  to  practice  the  same. 
Signed,  Henry  Worsley.  Endorsed,  R.  15th  July.  11  pp. 
Enclosed, 

207.  i — iv.  Orders  by  Governor  Worsley  to  William  Leslie, 
Storekeeper,  to  deliver  500  barrels  of  powder  to  the 
forts  (v.  covering  letter],  10th  July  and  23rd  Sept., 
1725.  Copies.  2  pp. 

207.  v.     Report  by  Commissioners  for  viewing  the  new  Maga- 

zine at  St.  Ann's  Castle.  17th  Oct.,  1727.  The 
buildings  are  leaky  and  unfit  to  hold  powder  and 
arms  etc.  10  signatures.  Copy.  1  p.  [C.O.  28,  44. 
Nos.  120,  120  i-v.] 

• 

May  20.         208.     Governor  Worsley  to  the  Council  of  Trade  and  Plant- 
Barbados,     ations.     The  2nd  of  this  month  I  had  the  honor  of  receiving 
your  Lordps.  letter  of  the  24th  Nov.    Repeats  preceding  covering 
letter.     Signed,  Henry  Worsley.     Endorsed,  Reed.  13th,  Read 
17th  July,  1728.     11  pp.     Enclosed, 

208.  i,  ii.     Duplicates  of  encl.  i — v  preceding.     Endorsed  as 
preceding.  [C.O.  28,  19.  ff.  194—202,  203*;.] 


102 


COLONIAL   PAPERS. 


1728. 
May  20.         209.     Mr.  Willard  to  Mr.  Popple.  Encloses  Minutes  of  Council 

Boston.  ancj  Journal  of  Assembly,  and  Acts,  for  the  last  half  year. 
Sent  the  Excise  Act  for  1726  in  Oct.  last  etc.  Signed,  Josiah 
Willard.  Endorsed,  Reed.  Read  4th  July,  1728.  f  p.  [C.O.  5, 
870.  ff.  115,  116U.] 

[May  21.]  210.  Memorandum  by  Mr.  Godin  upon  the  first  settling  of 
Carolina.  Set  out,  N.C.  Col.  Rec.  II.  763.  Signed,  Stephen 
Godin.  Endorsed,  Reed.  Read  21st  May,  1728.  2£  pp.  [C.O. 
5,  360.  ^64,  64u.] 

[May  21.]  211.  Memorandum  of  the  bounds  and  settlement  of  Carolina 
and  the  Bahama  Islands.  Signed,  Ri.  Shelton.  Endorsed  as 
preceding.  l?pp.  [C.O.  5,  360.  ff.  64,  64*;.,  65i>.] 


May  21. 

Jamaica. 


May  22. 

Whitehall. 


212.  Governor  Hunter  to  Mr.  Stanyan.    The  Fleet  not  yet 
being  sayl'd,  I  have  time  to  supply  an  omission.    Peter  Miller, 
found  guilty  of  the  murder  of  John  Addington  is  still  in  jayl 
under  sentence.  The  Bench  was  divided  it  seems  abt.  ye  evidence 
of  his  guilt  wch.  procured  his  reprieve  at  that  time.     In  that 
case  the  Govr.  can  only  reprieve  till  H.M.  pleasure  be  known  etc. 
Awaits  orders.    Signed,  Ro.  Hunter.    Endorsed,  Rd.  July   14th. 
Holograph.   1  p.  [C.O.  137,  53.  ff.  60,  61u.] 

213.  Duke  of  Newcastle  to  the  Council  of  Trade  and  Planta- 
tions. Encloses  following.  Continues  : — As  you  are  now  preparing 
draught  of  Col.    Philips'    Commission   and   Instructions,   it  is 
H.M.  pleasure  that  you  should  at  the  same  time  consider  of  the 
several  matters  proposed  by  him,  with  what  shall  otherwise 
occurr  to  you,  as  most  necessary  and  proper  for  the  better 
settlement  and  Government  of  Nova  Scotia.    P.S.    I  must  desire 
your  Lordps.  will  give  what  dispatch  you  conveniently  can  to 
this  affair.     Signed,  Holies  Newcastle.     Endorsed,  Reed.  Read 
23rd  May,  1728.    1  p.    Enclosed, 

213.  i.  Petition  of  Governor  Philipps  to  the  King.  Petitioner 
will  obey  H.M.  commands  to  return  to  his  Government 
with  all  dispatch.  Prays  that,  before  his  patent  and 
instructions  are  made  out,  the  Board  of  Trade  may  be 
directed  to  lay  before  H.M.  the  memorials  that  have 
been  given  of  the  state  of  that  Government  and  their 
reports  thereupon,  by  which  H.M.  will  be  informed  of 
of  the  miserable  condition  of  that  Province  and  be 
able  to  judge  of  measures  necessary  to  be  taken  for  a 
speedy  relief.  This  is  what  (with  His  late  Majesty's 
leave)  petitioner  came  over  to  sollicit,  and  unless 
obtain'd  there  is  great  reason  to  apprehend  that  his 
return  there  will  serve  to  no  better  end  then  totally 
to  discourage  the  settlement  (so  much  wanted)  of  that 
Province,  and  give  despair  to  those  unhappy  people 


AMERICA   AND   WEST   INDIES.  103 

1728. 

both  military  and  civill  who  have  supported  themselves 
hitherto  under  the  greatest  hardships  on  the  hopes  of 
the  good  success  of  his  representations.  Endorsed,  Rd. 
8th  May,  1728.  1  p. 

213.  ii.  State  and  Condition  of  Nova  Scotia,  (i)  The  fort  of 
Annapolis  Royal  is  utterly  gone  to  decay  etc.  and  the 
artillery  almost  totally  dismounted  (described),  so  that 
the  state  of  that  garrison,  without  cover  or  defence, 
is  no  longer  supportable  etc.  (ii)  Canso  is  yet  in  worse 
circumstances,  if  possible.  Seven  years  have  elapsed 
since  the  present  Governor  erected  at  his  own  expense 
lodgment  and  a  magazine  intended  to  last  but  for  one 
year,  and  no  better  provision  made  for  the  garrison, 
in  which  time  they  have  undergone  unspeakable  hard- 
ships. It  is  not  to  be  expected  that  human  nature  is 
able  to  exist  there  another  winter  in  the  same  condition. 
By  means  of  the  protection  of  the  Garrison  Canso  is 
become  the  most  considerable  of  the  fishery  trade 
of  any  in  America,  insomuch  that  one  year's  proffits 
at  this  time  ariseing  to  Great  Brittain  by  the  returns 
for  fish  shipped  off  there  to  foreign  markets,  will 
more  than  pay  the  expence  needfull  for  its  security, 
without  which  it  is  in  danger  of  being  deserted, 
(iii)  Annapolis  Royal  being  130  leagues  from  Canso, 
and  Canso  80  from  Placentia,  and  no  possibility  of 
communication  by  land,  the  Governor  needs  a  vessel 
to  be  appointed  constantly  to  attend  that  service, 
otherwise,  there  being  no  correspondence  between  them 
by  traffick  or  otherwise,  "  the  moment  he  removes  from 
hence,  where  is  the  present  center  of  correspondence 
with  the  whole,  he  looses  all  knowledge  of  the  affairs 
of  that  Government."  (iv)  Another  circumstance 
necessary  to  be  had  under  consideration  is  that  of  the 
French  inhabitants,  who  beside  the  Indian  natives  are 
almost  the  only  inhabitants  of  that  Province,  excepting 
about  half  a  dozen  poor  English  familys  ;  These  are 
the  same  people  that  settled  there  under  the  French 
Government,  but  greatly  multiply'd  since  the  sur- 
render of  that  country  16  years  ago  ;  since  which  time 
they  have  presym'd  upon  their  own  numbers  and 
strength,  and  the  weakness  of  the  English  Govern- 
ment, back'd  with  the  friendship  of  the  Indians, 
to  continue  their  footing  there,  refusing  to  comply 
with  the  Articles  of  Capitulation  etc.  and  at  this 
time  declareing  themselves  subjects  of  France,  waiting 
for  opportunity  of  a  rupture  betwixt  the  two  Crowns, 
and  in  the  meantime  are  dayly  practiseing  in  secret 
with  the  Indians,  exciting  them  to  robberys  and 
murder,  makeing  a  mock  of  the  English  Government 


104  COLONIAL   PAPERS. 

1728. 

etc.    As  the  only  remedy,  it  is  proposed  as  absolutely 
necessary  toward  haveing  the  entire  command  of  the 
Province,  to  take  post  with  a  number  sufficient  for  a 
garrison  on  the  Isthmus  which  divides  the  Province 
in  the  center,  and  is  the  scituation  of  the  greatest  part 
of  those  inhabitants,  and  rendevouz  of  the  Indians  in 
concerting  of  mischief,  by  which  means  those  insolent 
people  may  be  entirely  subjected  to  obedience,   and 
by  thus  cutting  off  the  communication  between  the 
West  and  Eastern  Indians  will  infallibly  prevent  all 
future    warr,     disturbance    and    murders    by    those 
barbarians,  which  has  hitherto  discouraged  the  settleing 
of  the  Province,  etc.    The  Isthmus,  being  about  8  or  9 
miles  wide,   and  a  very  fertile  soil,   on  which  those 
inhabitants   raise   great   store   of  excellent   corn   and 
cattle,  with  which  they  traffick  with  the  French  at 
Cape    Breton    and    are   the  support   of  that    Colony, 
takeing  in  return  the  European  manufactures  of  France, 
by  the  influence  of  this  post  that  trade  will  be  forced 
into  its  proper  channel  with  the  subjects  of  Great  Brit- 
tain,  who  will  vend  there  yearly  considerable  quantitys 
of  our  manufactures  etc.    The  charge,  besides  a  small 
reinforcement  of  men,  will  not  exceed  £1000  sterl.,  which 
those  inhabitants,  when  subjected,  are  rich  enough  to 
make  good,  (v)  The  Governor  being  by  his  last  Instruc- 
tions laid  under  a  prohibition  of  making  any  grants  of 
lands  in  that  Province  before  such  time  as  a  general 
survey  shall  be  made  for  the  marking  out  a  certain 
number  of  acres  of  woodland   fitt   for   the  use  of  the 
Royall  Navy,  which  occasion'd  the  loss  of  200  familys 
that  at  one  time  offer'd  themselves  to  go  over  in  a 
body  to  settle  but  cou'd  not  be  accepted,  and  whereas 
the  intended  general  survey  is  not  yet  begun,  and  may 
in  all  probability  be  a  work  of  two  or  three  years 
before  finished  etc.,  proposes  that  he  be  permitted  in  the 
mean  time  to  grant  such  lands  as  bear  no  such  timber 
etc.    (6)  Whereas  no  ways  or  means  are  to  be  found  for 
raising  the  least  supply  within  the  Province  toward  the 
support  of  the  Government  upon  any  emergency  tho' 
it  were  but  a  shilling  and  its  safety  depended  on  it, 
it  is  hoped  that  a  provision  by  way  of  contingent  mony 
may    be    appropriated    in    like    manner    as    to    other 
Governments  etc. 

Number  and  disposition  of  forces  necessary  :  At 
Canso,  being  the  frontier  of  the  Province,  200  ;  at  the 
post  on  the  isthmus,  200  ;  at  Annapolis  the  garrison  of 
150  may  be  reduced  from  150  to  100  by  opening  a 
communication  between  it  and  the  post  on  the  isthmus. 


AMERICA   AND   WEST  INDIES. 


105 


1728. 


May  23. 

Whitehall. 


May  24. 

Whitehall. 


May  28. 

Londo. 


May  28. 

Bartlett's 
Buildings. 


The  Regiment  there  at  the  present  establishment  is 
350.  The  state  of  the  Civil  Government  is  matter  of 
further  consideration.  3  pp.  [C.O.  217,  5.  ff.  11,  12, 
13,  13v.,  14,  14u.,  I5v.,  I6v.] 

214.  Council  of  Trade  and  Plantations  to  the  King.     The 
allegations  in  Mr.  Elliot's  petition,  (v.  July  5th)  according  to  our 
information  are  true,  and  he  has  been  of  service  in  protecting 
the  Fishery  at  Can£o.   And  as  we  are  informed  that  many  perni- 
cious practices  are  carried  on  in  the  towns  of  Newberry,  Capan 
and  Squam  by  reason  of  their  distant  situation  from  Piscataqua 
where  the  Collector  usually  resides,  to  the  great  detriment  of 
your   Majesty's   Revenue ;     we   have   no   objection    why   your 
Majesty  may  not  be  graciously  pleas'd  to  gratify  the  petitioner 
according  to  his  request.   [C.O.  218,  2.  pp.  74,  75.] 

21  5.  Duke  of  Newcastle  to  Governor  Worsley.  Has  laid 
the  petition  of  Assembly  (4th  Jan.)  against  him  before  the 
King  etc.  Concludes  : — The  King  has  so  good  an  opinion  of 
your  conduct,  that  he  is  willing  to  hope  this  complaint  has  not 
any  just  foundation  ;  however  H.M.  has  commanded  me  to 
transmit  to  you  the  inclosed  copy  thereof  for  your  information, 
and  that  you  may  have  an  opportunity  of  returning  a  proper 
answer  thereto.  Signed,  Holies  Newcastle.  Annexed, 

215.  i.     Copy  of  Petition  of  Assembly  of  Barbados,  4th  Jan. 

[C.O.  324,  36.  pp.  64—72.] 

21 6.  Col.  Johnson,  Mr.  Yonge  and  Mr.  Wragg  to  the  Council 
of  Trade  and  Plantations.    Recapitulation  of  history  of  settle- 
ment of  Carolina  and  attempts  by  the  Spaniards  to  settle  there 
or  disturb  H.M.  subjects.    Signed,  Robt.  Johnson,  Fra.  Yonge, 
Sam.  Wragg.    Endorsed,  Reed.  Read  28th  May,  1728.     2|  pp. 
[C.O.  5,  360.  ff6Q— 670.] 

217.  Mr.  Newman  to  Mr.  Popple.     Being  engaged  every 
Tuesday  in  the  year,  prays  to  be  excused  from  attending  the 
Board  on  that  day.    Signed,  Henry  Newman.    Endorsed,  Reed. 
Read  28th  May,  1728.   1^  pp.   [C.O.  5,  870.  ff.  Ill,  lllv.,  Il2v.] 


[May  29.]  218.  Copy  of  Commission  and  Instructions  for  the  Council 
of  Trade,  who  met  at  Mercer's  Hall,  London,  1660.  12  pp. 
[C.O.  388,  79.  Nos.  22,  23.] 

[May  29.]  219.  Copy  of  the  bill  in  the  Signet  Office,  under  the  sign 
manual  of  Charles  II,  which  passed  the  Great  Seal,  20th  Sept., 
1672,  appointing  a  standing  Council  for  Trade  and  Plantations. 
Endorsed,  Taken  out  of  ye  Signet  Office,  ye  29th  May,  1728. 

PP-  [c-°-  388>  79-  No-  24-] 


106 


COLONIAL   PAPERS. 


1728. 
May  29. 


May  30. 

New  York. 


May  30. 

New  York. 


May  30. 

New  York. 


May  30. 

New  York. 


May  30. 

Whitehall. 


May  30. 

London. 


May  81. 

Whitehall. 


220.  Col.  Johnson  to  Mr.  Popple.     Gives  address  of  Capt. 
John  Bodler  who  can  give  all  information  relating  to  Fort  King 
George,  Car.  etc.      Signed,  Robt.  Johnson.      Endorsed,  Reed., 
Read  29th  May,  1728.  Addressed.  I  p.    [C.O.  5,  360.    ff.  68,  69t;.] 

221.  Governor  Montgomerie   to   the    Duke    of   Newcastle. 
Acknowledges  receipt  of  H.M.  Additional  Instructions  relating  to 
Mr.  King,  Receiver  General  of  the  rights  and  perquisites  of  the 
Admiralty  etc.     Recommends  Mr.  De  Lancey  for  the  Council  v. 
No.  224.     Signed,   J.  Montgomerie.       Endorsed,    R.   July    18. 
Holograph.     2  pp.     [C.O.  5,  1092.     No.67.] 

222.  Same  to  [?  Mr.  Delafaye].  Acknowledges  his  obligations 
to  him,  thanks  him  for  his  civilities,  and  begs  the  continuance  of 
his  favour  etc.     Begs  him  to  put  the  Duke  in  mind  of  his  recom- 
mendation of  Mr.  De  Lancy  etc.  Signed  and  endorsed  as  preceding. 
Holograph.  If  pp.  [C.O.  5,  1092.  No.  68.] 

223.  Same  to  Mr.  Popple.    As  preceding.   Set  out,  N.Y.  Col. 
Docs.  V.  p.  857.     Signed,  J.  Montgomerie.     Endorsed,  Reed. 
18th  July,  Read  13th  Nov.,  1728.    Holograph.    2  pp.    [C.O.  5, 
1054.   ff.  294,  2940.,  295u.] 

224.  Same  to  Council  of  Trade  and  Plantations.    Has  not  yet 
been  able  to  get  the  Acts  of  New  Jersey  engrossed.  Recommends 
Mr.  James  De  Lancey  for  the  Council  in  room  of  Mr.  Barberie 
deed.     His  father,  an  eminent  merchant,  is  a  Member  of  the 
Assembly,   and  one  of  the  richest  men  in  the   Province  etc. 
Intends  to  meet  the  Assembly  on  22d  July.    Set  out,  N.Y.  Col. 
Docs.   V.   pp.    856,    857.     Signed  and  endorsed  as  preceding. 
Holograph.    3  pp.    [C.O.  5,  1054.    ff.  292—2930.] 

225.  Mr.  Popple  to  Capt.  John  Bodler.  Asks  for  information 
as  to  the  Fort  King  George  in  S.  Carolina,  "  particularly  upon 
what  river  it  is  erected."    [C.O.  5,  400.  /.  239.] 

226.  Mr.  Lowther  to  Mr.  Popple.    Sends  a  Map  of  Hudson's 
and  Delaware  Rivers  and  the  adjacent  country  made  by  William 
Bond,  to  be  presented  to  the  Board.     Signed,  Rob.  Lowther. 
Endorsed,  Reed.  30th  May,  Read  5th  June,  1728.     Holograph. 
1  p.     [C.O.  5,  1054.    ff.  275,  2760.] 

227.  Council  of  Trade  and  Plantations  to  the  Duke  of  New- 
castle. Enclose  following  to  be  laid  before  the  King.  Annexed, 

227.  i.  Council  of  Trade  and  Plantations  to  the  King. 
Representation  upon  Governor  Philipps'  petition  and 
state  of  Nova  Scotia  (v.  May  22nd).  We  have  always 
been  of  opinion,  it  was  highly  necessary  to  your 
Majesty's  service,  and  for  the  interest  of  Great  Britain, 


AMERICA   AND    WEST   INDIES. 


107 


1728. 


that  proper  measures  should  be  taken  for  the  peopling 
and  settling  Nova  Scotia  which  has  been  the  subject 
of  many  reports  from  this  Board  etc.  Enclose  copy  of 
representation  of  7th  June,  wherein  they  have  already 
given  their  opinion  "  concerning  the  several  particulars 
contain'd  in  Col.  Philipps'  State  of  Nova  Scotia,  ex- 
cepting only  what  relates  to  contingent  mony,  and  the 
encrease  of  the  number  of  men  upon  the  establishment 
of  his  Regiment,  to  which  we  have  no  objection, 
especially  till  such  time  as  the  Province  shall  be  in  a 
condition  to  raise  mony  for  their  own  defence,  and  for 
the  services  of  the  Civil  Government  there.  And  as 
we  are  now  preparing  the  draught  of  a  Commission  and 
Instructions  for  Col.  Philipps,  we  humbly  crave  leave 
to  know  your  Majesty's  pleasure  concerning  the  several 
particulars  in  the  annex'd  Representation,  that  in  case 
the  same  should  be  necessary,  further  Instructions 
[may  be  inserted]  for  Col.  Philipps,  etc.  [C.O.  218,  2. 
pp.  77—79.] 

May  81.  228.  Duke  of  Newcastle  to  the  Council  of  Trade  and 
a  '  Plantations.  H.M.  having  been  pleased  to  continue  George 
Phenney  Esq.  in  the  employment  of  Governor  of  the  Bahama 
Islands  in  America ;  you  are  to  prepare  draughts  of  a 
Commission  and  Instructions  for  him  etc.  Signed,  Holies 
Newcastle.  Endorsed,  Reed.  3rd,  Read  4th  June,  1728.  1  p. 
[C.O.  23,  2.  ff.  129,  130i;.] 

[June  2.]  229.  Copy  of  undertaking  by  M.  Subercase,  "  Governor  of 
L'Accadie  of  Cape  Breton  Island  and  land  adjacent  from  the 
Cape  Roziers  of  the  Great  River  St.  Lawrence  as  far  as  the 
East  part  of  Kennebeck  River,"  to  procure  passports  for  Major 
Richard  Mullins  and  Charles  Brown  to  proceed  to  England  etc. 
Port  Royal.  23rd  Oct.  N.S.  1710.  Endorsed,  Reed.  2nd,  Read 
6th  June,  1728.  f  p.  [C.O.  217,  5.  ff.  76,  770.] 

June  3.  230.  Mr.  Attorney  and  Mr.  Solicitor  General  to  the  Council 
of  Trade  and  Plantations.  Report  upon  H.M.  Instruction  to 
Governors  relating  to  the  5th  and  6th  Articles  of  the  Treaty  of 
Peace  and  Neutrality  (v.  16th  May).  Continue  : — We  conceive 
that  it  was  the  intent  of  those  articles  to  give  power  to  the  King 
of  Great  Britain  and  the  most  Christian  King  reciprocally  to 
seize  and  confiscate  the  ships  and  cargoes  belonging  to  the 
subjects  of  each  other,  which  should  carry  on  a  trade  contrary 
to  the  said  Articles  ;  and  consequently  that  ships  belonging  to 
the  subjects  of  France  with  their  ladings,  that  shall  be  found 
trading  in  any  of  the  British  Plantations  in  breach  of  those 
Articles,  will  be  liable  to  be  seized  and  condemned,  in  some  of 
H.M.  Courts  within  such  Plantations  for  that  cause  ;  and  that 


108  COLONIAL   PAPERS. 

1728. 

on  the  other  hand  ships  and  their  cargoes  belonging  to  British 
subjects  who  shall  be  found  trading  in  any  of  the  French 
Plantations  in  breach  of  the  said  Articles,  will  in  like  manner 
be  subject  to  seizure  and  confiscation  within  such  French  Planta- 
tion. But  we  apprehend  that  it  was  not  the  intent  of  this  Treaty 
to  provide  that  either  of  the  contracting  powers  should  seize 
and  confiscate  the  ships  or  goods  of  their  own  subjects  for  contra- 
vening the  said  Articles  ;  and  if  such  intention  had  appeared, 
we  are  humbly  of  opinion  that  it  could  not  have  had  it's  effect 
with  respect  to  H.M.  subjects,  unless  the  said  Articles  had  been 
confirmed  either  by  Act  of  Parliament  of  Great  Britain,  or  by 
Acts  of  Assembly  within  the  respective  Plantations.  As  to  the 
abovementioned  Instruction  there  appears  to  us  nothing 
illegal  in  the  terms  of  it ;  But  considering  the  distinction,  arising 
upon  the  said  two  Articles  of  the  Treaty,  which  we  have  already 
stated,  we  submit  it  to  your  Lordships'  consideration  whether 
it  may  not  be  expressed  more  explicitly  and  particularly  in 
order  to  prevent  mistakes  in  carrying  the  same  into  execution 
in  the  severall  cases  that  may  happen.  Signed,  P.  Yorke,  C. 
Talbot.  Endorsed,  Reed.  3rd,  Read  4th  June,  1728.  5|  pp. 
Enclosed, 

230.  i.     Extract  of  5th  and  6th  Articles  of  the  Treaty  of  Peace 

and  Neutrality,  1686.    3|  pp.  [C.O.  323,  8.     Nos.  91, 

91.  i.] 

June  3.  231 .  Mr.  Fane  to  the  Council  of  Trade  and  Plantations. 
In  reply  to  10th  May,  gives  opinion,  with  reasons,  that  Mr. 
Worsley's  Government  was  not  determined  by  the  demise  of  his 
late  Majesty  and  his  present  Commission  is  a  renewal  of  it  and 
a  continuation  of  the  same  office  and  profits  etc.  Signed,  Fran. 
Fane.  Endorsed,  Reed.  3rd,  Read  4th  June,  1728.  6£  pp.  [C.O. 
28,  19.  ff.  180— 188t>.] 

June  4.  232.  Same  to  Same.  Has  no  objection  to  the  Acts  of  St. 
Kitts  for  regulating  Vestries  etc.  and  ascertaining  the  number  of 
Assemblymen  etc.  (v.  Dec.  26).  Signed,  Fran.  Fane.  Endorsed, 
Reed.  7th  June,  1728,  Read  28th  March,  1729.  1  p.  [C.O.  152, 
17.  //.  27,  28».] 

June  4.  233.  Mr.  Partridge  to  Mr.  Popple.  Understanding  there  is 
like  to  be  made  some  application  at  the  ensuing  Congress  at 
Soisons  for  obtaining  satisfaction  from  Spain  for  the  ships  taken 
by  the  Spaniards  etc.,  I  do  therefore  send  thee  herewith  an  accot. 
of  a  ship  belonging  to  Rhd.  Island  taken  about  4  yrs  since  from 
Capt.  Wanton  whose  attourney  I  am.  We  endeavoured  to  get 
satisfaction  from  the  Court  of  Spain  as  will  appear  by  enclosed 
papers  etc.,  but  we  never  could  recover  anything  at  all  etc.  :  so 
now  I  desire  thou  wouldst  please  to  let  this  ship  and  cargo  amo. 


AMERICA   AND   WEST   INDIES.  109 

1728. 

to  upwards  of  £1800  sterl.  to  be  incerted  among  such  accots.  as 
are  to  be  transmitted  to  the  Congress.  I  am,  Thy  Friend,  Signed, 
Richd.  Partridge.  Endorsed,  Reed.,  Read  6th  June,  1728.  1  p. 
Enclosed, 

233.  i.  Petition  of  Wm.  Wanton  jr.  to  the  King.  Commander 
of  the  Wanton,  describes  capture  of  his  ship  in  her 
voyage  from  Jamaica  to  Rhode  Island,  when  attempting 
to  water  at  Chincherna  Island,  near  Cape  Catoch,  April, 
1724,  after  being  driven  off  her  course  by  a  storm,  and 
not  knowing  where  they  were.  Petitioner  had  not  had 
any  manner  of  commerce  with  the  Spaniards  or  any 
others  from  the  shore,  nor  when  taken  had  they  any 
goods  on  board  of  Spanish  growth  or  product  or  any 
counterband  goods  whatsoever.  The  Spaniards  carried 
them  into  the  Bay  of  Honduras  and  seized  all  their 
papers,  to  prevent  a  true  state  of  the  case  being  laid 
before  H.M.  Then  they  proceeded  to  treat  the  ship's 
company  very  barbarously  and  inhumanly  perticularly 
in  hanging  up  some  of  your  petitioner's  sailors 
by  the  neck  to  make  them  confess  where  they  were 
bound  etc.  Petitioner  and  some  of  his  company 
were  carried  to  Campeachy  and  there  put  into  prison 
with  very  little  cloaths  etc.  Six  others,  who  were  sick, 
were  inhumanly  forced  out  of  the  ship  into  a  boat. 
Petitioner  after  having  layn  in  prison  till  the  latter 
end  of  June  was  carried  to  Vera  Cruz  and  put  into 
prison  there  in  a  place  that  was  almost  knee-deep 
with  water  and  was  there  three  days  without  any 
subsistance  from  the  Spaniards,  and  afterwards  was 
removed  to  a  castle  from  whence  he  was  released 
through  the  intercession  of  Capt.  Wm.  Clealand  of 
the  Royal  Prince  and  the  English  Factory  there  etc. 
Prays  for  redress  on  account  of  himself  and  Col.  Wm. 
Wanton  of  Rhode  Island,  sole  owners  of  the  Wanton. 
233.  ii.  Estimate  of  value  of  Wanton  and  cargo  as  above.  1  p. 
233.  iii.  Duke  of  Newcastle  to  Mr.  Stanhope.  Jan.  14,  17f  £. 
Transmits  Wm.  Wanton's  petition  (No.  1)  and 
concludes  :  H.M.  directs  your  Excellency  to  represent 
to  the  Court  of  Spain  the  particular  hardship  of  this 
case,  and  endeavour  to  obtain  a  full  and  speedy  satis- 
faction for  the  loss  the  owners  have  sustained.  Signed, 
Holies  Newcastle.  Copy.  2  pp. 

233.  iv-vi.  Depositions  of  Wm.  Wanton  jr.  (2),  and  Caleb 
Godfrey  relating  to  foregoing.  Signed,  Wm.  Wanton, 
jr.,  Caleb  Godfrey.  If  pp.,  3pp.  [C.O.  388,  27,  Nos. 
29,  29  i— vi.] 

June  4.          234.     Mr.    Popple    to    Mr.    Scrope.       Encloses  following   as 
Whitehall,     desired.     It  will  be  for  H.M.  service,  that  the  Surveyor  General 


110  COLONIAL   PAPERS. 

1728. 

be  dispatched  as  soon  as  possible,  that  the  settlement  of  Nova 
Scotia  may  be  no  longer  delay'd  etc.  (v.  Cal.  Treasury  Papers, 
1728,  p.  516).  Annexed, 

234.  i.  Draught  of  H.M.  Instructions  to  David  Dunbar, 
Surveyor  General  of  H.M.  Woods  on  the  Continent  of 
America.  Whereas  we  are  sensible  of  the  great  advant- 
age that  would  accrue  to  our  Kingdoms,  were  our 
Royal  Navy  and  the  shipping  of  Great  Britain  con- 
stantly supply'd  with  Naval  Stores  of  all  kinds  from 
Our  Plantations  in  America,  We  have  thought  fit  to 
appoint  you  to  be  Surveyor  of  Our  Woods  on  that 
Continent ;  You  are  therefore  with  all  convenient 
speed  to  repair  to  America,  and  to  signify  and  exhibit 
to  the  several  Governors  of  Our  Plantations  there, 
Our  Commission  etc.  as  also  such  parts  of  Our  Instruc- 
tions in  that  behalf,  as  may  be  requisite  from  time  to 
time.  And  whereas  we  are  inform'd  that  the  Province  of 
Nova  Scotia  abounds  with  timber  of  all  kinds  fit  for  the 
service  of  Our  Royal  Navy  ;  And  whereas  Our  Governor 
of  that  Province  is  forbid  to  grant  any  lands  there 
to  any  person  whatsoever  until  there  shall  be  set  apart 
a  sufficient  quantity  of  land  bearing  timber  as  a 
nursery  of  trees  for  the  use  of  Our  Royal  Navy,  you 
are  therefore  in  the  first  place  to  proceed  to  that  Prov- 
ince, and  in  those  parts  where  you  shall  find  it  most 
for  Our  service,  to  take  a  survey  of  Our  woods,  and  to 
mark  out  certain  tracts  of  land  most  proper  to  be 
reserv'd  for  the  service  of  Our  Royal  Navy  ;  always 
observing  that  they  lye  as  contiguous  as  may  be  to  the 
sea  coast  or  navigable  rivers,  not  amounting  to  less  than 
200,000  acres  in  the  whole,  in  which  lands  no  persons 
whatsoever  are  to  cut  trees  of  any  dimensions,  under 
pain  of  Our  highest  displeasure,  and  of  the  utmost 
penalties  the  laws  can  inflict  for  such  offence  etc.  You 
are  to  make  application  to  the  Governors  (of  the 
Provinces  concerned)  that  the  Acts  for  the  preservation 
of  white  avd  other  pine  trees,  and  for  giving  further 
encouragement  to  the  importation  of  Naval  Stores  be 
publish'd  in  their  respective  Governments,  and  you 
are  to  take  especial  care,  that  the  said  Acts  or  such  parts 
of  them  as  are  in  force  be  duly  observ'd,  particularly 
you  are  to  mark  all  such  trees  fit  for  the  use  of  Our 
Royal  Navy  (not  being  the  property  of  any  private 
person)  and  to  restrain  as  much  as  possible  the  liberty 
taken,  of  cutting  down  trees  fit  for  Our  service,  accord- 
ing to  the  directions  of  the  said  Acts.  And  whereas  a 
doubt  has  arisen  upon  the  words  of  the  latter  Act, 
whether  trees  of  24  in.  diameter  at  12  in.  from  the 
ground,  growing  within  any  township  or  the  boundaries 


AMERICA   AND   WEST   INDIES.  Ill 

1728. 

thereof,  be  restricted  to  H.M.,  or  whether  the  people 
there  have  not  a  power  to  cut  them  for  their  own 
private  use,  altho'  by  the  Charter  granted  to  the 
Colony  of  the  Massachusets  Bay,  such  trees  are  reserv'd 
to  the  Crown  ;  you  are  to  understand  that  nothing 
contain'd  in  that  Act  can  be  construed  to  take  away 
the  right  reserv'd  to  the  Crown  by  the  said  Charter, 
as  to  trees  of  24  inches  diameter  at  12  inches  from 
the  ground,  whether  the  same  are  growing  within  or 
out  of  any  township  ;  The  intention  of  the  Act  being  to 
make  a  larger  provision  for  preservation  of  white  pine 
trees  than  was  done  by  the  Charter,  by  prohibiting 
under  penalties,  the  cutting  down  such  trees  growing 
without  the  limits  described  in  the  Act  without  H.M. 
licence,  notwithstanding  they  might  be  the  property 
of  private  persons,  and  of  dimensions  different  from 
those  describ'd  in  the  Charter  ;  you  are  therefore  not 
to  suffer  any  such  trees  to  be  cut  altho'  they  do  grow 
within  the  bounds  of  any  township,  without  your 
licence  for  that  purpose  ;  and  if  you  discover  any 
offending  therein,  you  shall  prosecute  them  according 
to  law.  And  whereas  We  are  desirous  that  these  Our 
Dominions  be  furnish'd  with  pitch,  tar,  hemp  and  other 
Naval  Stores  from  Our  Plantations  rather  than  from 
foreign  parts  ;  you  are,  upon  your  arrival  in  America, 
to  use  your  best  skill  and  care  in  instructing  the 
inhabitants  of  Our  Colonies  in  the  right  and  proper 
method  of  producing,  making  and  fabricating  of  tar 
and  pitch,  and  to  direct  them  as  well  in  the  choice  of 
tree,  as  land  proper  for  the  producing  these  commod- 
ities, as  likewise  for  producing  hemp,  and  such  other 
Naval  Stores  as  are  imported  from  the  East  Countries, 
and  other  foreign  parts.  You  are  to  endeavour  by 
your  advice  and  instructions  to  correct  any  errors  the 
inhabitants  may  run  into,  in  the  manufacturing  the 
said  commodities.  You  are  to  advise  the  inhabi- 
tants that  they  take  care  that  all  such  pitch  and  tar 
as  shall  be  shipp'd  from  thence,  be  good  and  merchant- 
able, free  from  dirt  and  dross  ;  and  that  the  respect- 
ive makers  of  those  commodities  do  put  their  names 
and  place  where  such  commodities  were  made,  upon 
each  cask  in  which  the  said  pitch  and  tar  shall  be  put. 
You  are  to  make  application  to  Our  Governors  in  those 
parts,  that  they  endeavour  to  get  such  Acts  pass'd  in 
their  respective  Governments,  as  may  be  proper  for 
encouraging  the  said  undertaking,  and  for  preventing 
abuses  that  may  be  committed  therein.  You  are  to 
keep  a  particular  account  of  all  your  proceedings  here- 
in, and  what  progress  you  make  from  time  to  time, 


112  COLONIAL   PAPERS. 

1728. 

as  also  what  particular  obstructions  you  shall  meet 
with,  if  any,  and  give  an  account  thereof  to  Us,  by  one 
of  Our  principal  Secretaries  of  State,  and  to  Our 
Commissrs.  for  Trade  and  Plantations,  as  also  to 
Our  Governors  of  the  respective  Plantations  where 
you  shall  be,  together  with  your  opinion  what  further 
orders  or  instructions  may  be  requisite  for  ye  perfecting 
this  so  necessary  and  advantagious  undertaking. 
[C.O.  324,  II.  pp.  103—111.] 

June  5.          235.     Mr.  Popple  to  Mr.  Fane.     Encloses  for  his  opinion  in 
Whitehall.    jn  point  of  law  Act  of  Antigua,  1728,  for  encreasing  the  salary  of 

the  present  Agent,  and  for  appointing  how  long  he  shall  continue 

in  his  Office.   [C.O.  153,  14.  p.  403.] 

June  5.  236.  Mr.  Fane  to  the  Council  of  Trade  and  Plantations. 
Report  upon  Act  of  New  York  for  preventing  prosecutions  by 
informations.  The  Act  recites  that  many  of  H.M.  subjects  have 
been  lately  prosecuted  in  the  counties  and  Supreame  Court 
upon  information  filed  against  them  by  the  Attorney  Generall 
and  his  Deputies,  tho'  the  matters  charged  against  them  have 
been  generaly  trivial  and  inconsiderable,  therefore  it  is  enacted 
that  all  informations  filed  by  H.M.  Attorney  Generall  now 
depending  shall  be  quashed  etc.  and  all  such  process  and 
proceedings  are  to  cease  after  the  publication  of  this  Act  etc. 
And  it  is  enacted  that  thereafter  no  person  shall  be  troubled 
in  his  liberty  or  estate  by  the  King's  Attorney  General  upon  pre- 
tence of  any  misdemeanour  committed  otherwise  then  by 
presentment  of  a  Grand  Jury  or  by  information  by  an  order 
from  the  Governor  signed  in  Councill  etc.,  and  the  party  so 
presented  shall  be  brought  to  trial  the  second  Court  after  such 
information  filed  or  be  discharged  the  Court  without  paying 
of  any  fees  etc.,  etc.  It  is  further  enacted  that  if  the  Attorney 
Generall  shall  prosecute  any  person  contrary  to  the  true  intent 
and  meaning  of  this  Act  etc.  he  shall  forfeit  £100  currant  money  . 
etc.  I  think  this  Act  a  very  violent  and  extraordinary  attaque 
upon  the  prerogative  of  the  Crown,  for  the  right  the  Attorney 
Generall  has  to  file  informations  is  delegated  to  him  from  the 
King  and  has  been  ever  thought  a  most  essential  and  necessary 
power  with  regard  to  the  security  of  the  publick  tranquility, 
as  well  as  for  the  service  and  protection  of  H.M.  revenue,  and  I 
apprehend  the  destroying  that  power  thus,  will  be  attended  by 
very  ill  consequences  ;  for  if  no  delinquent  is  to  be  prosecuted 
without  going  through  so  solemn  an  enquiry  whether  it  be 
expedient  or  not,  I  believe  it  will  be  an  encouragement  to  wicked 
men  to  perpetrate  the  worst  of  villanies  in  hopes  by  justice  being 
delayed  which  it  must  necessarily  be  in  this  form  of  proceeding 
they  may  escape  that  punishment  they  justly  deserve,  and  which 
in  policy  ought  to  be  as  speedy  as  possible  etc.  Calls  attention 


AMERICA  AND   WEST  INDIES. 


113 


1728. 


to  the  quashing  of  all  prosecutions  now  depending,  which  must 
be  attended  with  many  inconveniencies.  Continues :  The 
imposing  a  fine  upon  the  Attorney  General  if  he  does  not  pursue 
the  directions  of  this  Act  is  an  unprecedented  step  and  a  high 
reflection  upon  the  honour  of  the  Crown  ;  for  can  it  be  supposed 
H.M.  will  appoint  an  Attorney  Generall  who  is  so  unwilling  to 
do  his  duty  that  he  must  by  the  fear  and  dread  of  punishment 
be  forced  to  put  the  law  in  execution  etc.  Signed,  Fran.  Fane. 
Endorsed,  Reed.  7th,  Read  27th  June,  1728.  5|  pp.  [C.O.  5, 
1054.  ff.  279— 2810.,  282z;.] 


June  5. 


June  6. 

Whitehall. 


June  7. 

Jamaica. 


237.  Same  to  Same.     Has  no  objection  to  8  Acts  of  New 
York  referred  to  him  1st  May  etc.  Signed,  Fran.  Fane.  Endorsed, 
Reed.  7th  June,  1728,  Read  18th  Nov.,  1729.     1|  pp.     [C.O.  5, 
1055.    ff.  42,  42v.,  48i>.] 

238.  Order   of  Committee  of  Privy  Council.    Upon   consid- 
eration of  a  report  layd  this  day  before  their  Lordships,  made 
by  Mr.  Attorney  and  Mr  Sollicitor  General   to   the    Lords  of 
Trade,  (v.  3rd  June)  relating  to  an  article  in  the  General  Instruc- 
tions to  the  Governors  of  H.M.  Plantations  in  America,  directing 
them  to  notify  to  H.M.  subjects  under  their  Government,  the 
purport  of  the  5th  and  6th  Articles  of  the  Treaty  of  Peace  elc. 
1686,  and  directing  the  said  Governors  to  take  particular  care 
that  the  same  be  punctually  observed  and  put  in  execution, 
and  their  Lordships  observing,  that  the  Governors  have  so  far 
mistaken  the  sense  of  the  said  Articles  and  their  Instructions 
grounded  thereon,  as  to  proceed  to  the  condemnation  of  ships 
and  cargoes  belonging  to  H.M.  subjects  under  pretence  of  their 
having  contravened  the  said  Articles  by  trading  to  the  French 
Plantations,  which  was  not  the  sense  of  those  Articles,  which 
could  only  entitle  H.M.  Governors  to  condemn  French  ships 
trading  to  our  Plantations,  there  being  no  law  to  justify  the 
condemnation  of  ships  belonging  to  H.M.  subjects  for  such  trade, 
Their  Lordships  are  therefore  pleased  to  order  that  the  Lords 
Commissioners  for  Trade  and  Plantations  do  consider  of  a  proper 
Instruction  to  be  prepared  for  H.M  approbation  whereby  those 
articles  may  be  explained,  so  as  to  prevent  the  like  mistakes  for 
the  future,  and  that  they  likewise  consider  what  laws  it  may  be 
reasonable  to  pass  in  the  severall  Plantations,  for  restraining 
H.M.  subjects  from  importing  into  British  Plantations  such  pro- 
ducts of  the  French  Plantations,   as  may  interfere  with  the 
British  trade,  and  lay  the  same  before  their  Committee.   Signed, 
Temple  Stanyan.    Endorsed,  Reed,  llth,  Read  13th  June,  1728. 
2pp.  [C.O.  323,  8.  No.  92.] 

239.  Governor  Hunter  to  the  Duke  of  Newcastle.  Duplicate 
of  May  17,  with  postscript  :   The  Solebay  from  Gibraltar  arrived 

C.P.  xxxvi— a 


114  COLONIAL   PAPERS. 

1728. 

here  the  beginning  of  this  moneth  with  despatches  for  the 
Spanish  Viceroys.  Signed,  Ro.  Hunter.  Endorsed,  Rd.  Augt. 
4th.  2f  pp.  Enclosed, 

239.  i.     Duplicate  of  No.  196.      [C.O.  137,  53.  ff.  62— 63t;., 
66—69i;.] 

June  7.          240.     Same  to  Mr.  Stanyan.     Duplicate  of  May  17th,  with 

Jamaica,      postscript  relating  to  Miller  (v.  May  21st).    Signed,  Ro.  Hunter. 

Endorsed,  R.  Augt.  7th.   2  pp.     [C.O.  137,  53.    ff.  64,  640.,  Q5v.] 

[?June8.]  241.  Lt.  Governor  Gooch  to  the  Council  of  Trade  and 
Plantations.  The  General  Assembly  not  concluding  their  session 
till  the  30th  of  March,  and  the  General  Court  immediately 
following,  it  is  not  possible  for  me  to  get  the  transcripts  of  the 
journals  and  laws  of  that  Session  in  a  readiness  to  be  sent  to 
your  Lordships  any  sooner  ;  however,  I  hope  the  conveniency 
of  sending  them  by  John  Randolph  Esqr.,  the  Clerk  of  the 
House  of  Burgesses,  who,  going  to  England  for  the  recovery  of 
his  health,  will  be  ready  to  satisfie  your  Lordships  in  any  point 
wherein  you  may  desire  to  be  further  informed,  will  in  some 
measure  excuse  this  unavoidable  delay.  I  am  now  to  make  some 
observations  on  the  laws  herewith  sent,  and  shal  begin  with  those 
which  are  not  to  take  place  untill  they  receive  H.M.  approbation. 
And  the  first  is  an  Act  for  laying  a  duty  on  slaves  imported  and 
appointing  a  Treasurer.  By  it  a  duty  of  40s.  an  head  is  laid 
on  all  slaves  imported  into  this  Colony  for  sale  to  be  paid 
by  the  importer,  with  the  usual  clause  for  the  regular 
collecting  and  paying  that  duty ;  and  for  drawing  back  the  whole 
upon  re-exportation  within  three  moneths.  This  duty  is  to  com- 
mence upon  H.M.  assent  to  the  act  being  publickly  notified  in 
this  Dominion,  and  thence  to  continue  for  three  years  and  no 
longer,  the  money  arising  from  it  is  to  be  accounted  for  by  a 
Treasurer,  and  disposed  of  to  such  publick  uses  as  the  Governour 
Council  and  Burgesses  shall  agree  upon,  etc.  Though  the 
particular  services  for  which  this  money  is  intended  are  not 
express'd  in  the  act,  yet  there  is  a  constant  charge  wch.  annually 
arises  for  the  prosecution  of  criminals,  for  recompensing  the 
owners  of  slaves  condemn'd  for  capital  offences,  for  discharging 
the  sallarys  of  many  publick  officers,  and  for  keeping  the  Capitol 
and  other  publick  buildings  in  repair ;  which  cannot  be  supported 
without  such  a  duty  etc.  ;  nor  can  anything  of  importance  be 
undertaken  for  the  benefit  of  the  publick  without  such  a  reserv'd 
fund,  seeing  a  poll-tax  in  tobacco  has  been  found  grievous  to  the 
people,  and  through  the  incertainty  of  its  value  of  very  little 
encouragement  to  people  to  engage  in  the  public  service.  But 
besides,  'tis  the  common  topick  among  the  people  that  while 
the  like  or  a  greater  duty  on  negroes  subsists  and  has  continued 
for  a  long  time  in  Maryland  a  Proprietary  Government,  it  is  hard 
that  they  who  are  under  H,M.  immediate  Government  should 


AMERICA   AND   WEST   INDIES.  115 

1728. 

be  restrained  from  the  same  means  of  securing  and  improving 
their  country ;  and  from  these  considerations  moved  the 
Assembly  to  attempt  the  re-enacting  a  law  which  had  been 
formerly  disapprov'd,  in  hopes  that  its  conformity  now  to  the 
King's  instructions,  and  the  necessity  of  a  fund  for  the  publick 
service,  will  induce  H.M.  to  give  it  his  royal  sanction,  for  the 
short  time  it  is  to  continue.  The  only  objection  I  think  that  can 
be  brought  against  this  law  is,  the  private  interest  of  the 
importer  :  but  when  it  is  considered  that  the  price  of  negroes 
will  always  be  advanced  in  proportion  to  the  duty,  they  can't  be 
sufferers  by  it.  and  the  money  will  be  taken  out  of  their  pockets, 
who  are  the  advocates  for  it.  If  therefore  your  Lordships  have  no 
other  exception,  I  hope  the  united  desires  of  all  the  people  of 
this  Colony  will  obtain  your  Lordships  favourable  representation 
of  it  to  his  Majesty.  The  next  is  entd.  an  Act  for  erecting  a  light- 
house on  Cape  Henry  :  By  this  act  there's  a  thousand  pounds 
appropriated  for  building  a  substantial  lighthouse  of  brick  or 
stone,  and  for  purchasing  grounds  sufficient  for  that  and  the 
keeper  of  it ;  and  for  reimbursing  that  and  defraying  the 
expence  of  keeping  a  constant  light  there  for  the  conveniency 
of  shipping  it  is  proposed  that  a  duty  one  penny  pr.  tun  according 
to  their  measure  be  paid  by  all  ships  and  vessels  passing  through 
the  Capes  of  Virginia.  But  this  act  is  not  to  be  in  force  untill 
approved  by  H.M.,  nor  unless  the  Province  of  Maryland  pass  an 
act  for  raising  and  collecting  the  same  light  money  on  the  ships 
and  vessels  trading  thither.  I  need  add  little  to  what  is  contained 
in  the  preamble  of  this  bill  to  shew  the  usefulness  and  expedi- 
ency of  this  undertaking  ;  for  surely  there  is  no  place  of  trade 
where  a  lighthouse  is  more  necessary  :  a  flat  coast  for  many 
leagues  on  each  side  of  the  Capes,  and  scarce  discernible  in  the 
clearest  weather  above  five  leagues  off  at  sea,  surely  requires 
some  noted  landmark  to  guide  the  doubting  mariner :  the 
sudden  changes  of  the  wind  at  those  seasons  of  the  year  when 
the  ships  most  frequent  this  coast,  makes  it  neceessary  that 
no  time  be  lost  for  their  getting  in,  since  whenever  the  Northwest 
wind  begins  to  blow  it  is  with  great  violence  and  holds  generally 
for  many  days,  so  that  ships  coming  to  soundings  in  the  night 
and  having  nothing  to  direct  their  course,  are  frequently  drove 
back  to  sea  in  the  morning  when  by  the  conveniency  of  this 
necessary  and  useful  work  they  might  have  got  within  the  Capes 
in  safety.  And  indeed  considering  the  number  and  value  of  the 
ships  imploy'd  in  the  trade  of  Virginia  and  Maryland  it  seems 
strange  that  such  a  design  hath  been  so  long  delay 'd  :  for  since 
I  first  propos'd  it,  I  have  not  heard  of  any  master  of  a  ship 
trading  hither  but  what  owns  the  use  of  it,  and  allows  the  duty 
for  supporting  of  it  very  reasonable.  But  as  it  is  impossible 
to  account  for  popular  humours,  I  am  apprehensive  this  good 
work  may  be  obstructed  by  the  refusal  of  the  Assembly  of  Mary- 
land to  come  into  a  law  for  raising  the  same  duty,  tho'  'tis  certain 


116  COLONIAL   PAPERS. 

1728. 

the  trade  of  that  Province  will  reap  a  greater  benefit  by  it  than 
that  of  Virginia  :  for  as  they  and  we  receive  the  same  advant- 
age with  respect  to  inward  bound  ships,  so  they  of  Maryland  in 
their  outward  bound  voyage  have  by  much  the  greater  want 
and  occasion  for  it ;  for  our  ships  setting  saile  in  the  morning 
from  any  of  our  rivers  with  a  fair  wind  can  get  out  of  the  Capes 
before  night,  whereas  the  Maryland  ships  having  a  much  longer 
run  down  the  Bay  are  frequently  benighted  before  they  can  get 
sight  of  the  Cape,  whereby  it  has  happened  that  divers  ships  of 
value  have  in  the  compass  of  a  few  years  past  been  cast  away  on 
the  shoals  either  of  the  Horse-shoe,  or  middle  ground  which 
extends  a  considerable  way  from  the  Capes  up  the  Bay  of  Chesea- 
peake  and  form  a  narrow  and  difficult  chanell.  I  have  lately  had 
an  oppertunity,  by  a  visit  to  me,  to  discourse  with  the  Governor 
of  Maryland  on  this  subject,  and  find  him  well  inclined  to  forward 
this  project  of  a  lighthouse,  but  cannot  answer  for  the  temper 
of  his  Assembly  which  is  to  meet  next  October  :  and  it  may  per- 
haps afford  them  an  handle  for  cavilling  that  this  act  now  seems 
to  lay  the  duty  on  the  Maryland  shipping  and  exacts  the  obedi- 
ence of  that  Province  in  their  officers  collecting  of  it.  'Tis  true 
the  act  might  have  been  penn'd  in  smoother  terms  with  regard 
to  that  Province,  nor  can  I  excuse  our  Burgesses  for  framing 
of  it  in  that  manner.  But  as  publick  benefits  ought  to  overbal- 
ance as  well  private  interest  as  the  transgression  of  common 
forms,  and  as  the  Assembly  of  Maryland  may  word  their  act  in 
what  strains  they  please  so  that  the  work  be  carried  on  and 
supported  ;  I  hope  your  Lordship's  authority  will  prevail  with 
Lord  Baltimore  to  recommend  it  to  his  Assembly,  and  wth. 
the  Maryland  merchants  to  consent  that  the  same  duty  be  paid 
by  their  ships  as  is  imposed  on  ours  :  and  this  with  his  Majesty's 
approbation  which  I  hope  will  easily  be  obtain'd,  will  encourage 
me  and  the  other  trustees  immediately  to  sett  about  and  finish 
this  necessary  work.  But  if  any  obstruction  should  happen  on  the 
part  of  Maryland,  I  doubt  not  but  your  Lordship's  interest  may 
procure  that  provision  by  an  act  of  Parliament  to  bind  both 
Governments  to  do  that  good  to  themselves  and  the  trade  of 
Great  Brittain  which  their  own  narrow  views  will  not  suffer  them 
to  comply  with.  These  are  the  only  acts  of  a  publick  nature  which 
are  to  wait  H.M.  approbation  before  they  can  take  effect  etc.  The 
third  is  an  act  for  the  better  and  more  effectual  improving  the 
staple  of  tobacco,  and  is  almost  the  same  in  substance  with  that 
pass'd  in  1723  by  Mr.  Dry sd  ale,  except  that  there  are  some 
explanations  added  in  this  which  are  said  to  have  been  intended 
by  the  former  tho'  doubtfully  express'd.  As  that  law  continued 
for  three  years  without  any  exception  taken  to  it  that  I  ever 
heard  of,  and  it  being  found  by  experience  that  it  did  no  ways 
lessen  the  quantity  of  tobacco,  but  amended  its  quality,  I  need 
say  nothing  more  to  recommend  this  to  H.M.'s  approbation, 
unless  that  there  is  in  it  one  clause  not  in  the  former  obliging 


AMERICA   AND   WEST   INDIES.  117 

1728. 

the  planters  to  a  certain  method  in  the  tying  up  their  tobacco 
which  both  render  it  more  merchantable  and  more  effectually 
discover  any  practices  of  packing  therein  trash  or  bad  tobacco. 
The  fourth  is  an  act  for  preventing  excessive  and  deceitful 
gaming  :  being  copyed  almost  verbatim  from  an  Act  of  Parlia- 
ment made  in  the  ninth  year  of  Q.  Anne,  needs  no  further 
recommendation  than  what  the  wisdom  of  the  British  Parliament 
has  already  given  it.  and  as  I  found  the  evill  intended  to  be 
remedyed  by  it  there,  required  equal  redress  here,  in  regard  of 
the  many  loose  and  idle  persons  who  were  got  into  the  same  vile 
way  of  spending  their  time  ;  I  thought  it  not  improper  to  apply 
the  same  salutary  penalties  etc.  The  fifth  an  Act  for  the  better 
support  of  the  clergy  etc.,  and  for  better  collecting  parish  levies. 
By  this  act  many  disputes  and  controversies  between  the 
Ministers  and  their  parishioners  on  the  construction  of  former 
Laws  a,re  removed,  the  sallary  of  the  Clergy  made  more  easy, 
and  valuable,  and  a  good  provision  established  for  building  and 
maintaining  suitable  habitations  for  them.  And  in  fine,  it 
is  such  a  beneficial  act  that  the  Clergy  have  great  reason  to  be 
well  satisfyed  with  it,  and  I  hope  it  will  prove  an  encouragement 
to  good  men  to  come  and  settle  among  us.  The  sixth,  an  Act  for 
preventing  delays  in  the  Courts  of  justice  etc.  By  this  act  many 
inconveniencies  which  were  found  in  the  former  laws,  partic- 
ularly in  relation  to  the  proceedings  in  the  General  Court  are 
removed  ;  for  whereas  a  common  action  of  debt  hitherto  in 
the  General  Court  could  not  be  brought  to  a  determinate 
judgment  in  less  than  eighten  moneths,  and  often  required  a 
longer  time  ;  by  the  new  method  of  practice  established  by  this 
act ;  such  a  suit  must  have  its  determination  the  second  General 
Court,  and  in  many  cases  judgment  will  be  obtained  the  first  : 
and  in  general  all  causes  whatsoever  will  now  receive  a  more 
speedy  decision,  and  with  less  trouble  to  the  Court.  This  new 
method  is  also  more  conformable  to  the  practice  of  the  Court 
of  Westminster  Hall,  and  will  deserve  the  more  applause  on  that 
account.  By  this  also  is  established  a  quick  and  summary  way 
of  determining  final  causes  in  the  County  Courts  and  a  restraint 
laid  on  bringing  appeals  (wch.  is  here  in  place  of  writts  of  error) 
for  trifling  causes.  And  on  all  these  considerations  I  make  no 
doubt  but  it  will  prove  a  beneficial  law,  and  such  as  may  well 
deserve  to  be  made  perpetual ;  but  at  present  it  is  only  to  be 
in  force  for  four  years,  because  the  Assembly  were  willing  to  try 
the  effects  of  it,  before  such  an  alteration  was  established  as 
this  introduces  in  the  method  of  practice.  The  seventh,  an  act 
to  explain  and  amend  the  act  for  declaring  the  negroe  mulatto 
and  Indian  slaves  within  this  Dominion  to  be  real  estate  etc.  The 
act  now  explained  was  made  in  1706  etc.,  and  'tis  said  was  intend- 
ed at  first  to  extend  no  further  than  to  preserve  the  slaves  of 
persons  dying  intestate  from  the  ill  practices  of  administrators 
who  generally  converted  the  slaves  to  their  own  use  rendering 


118  COLONIAL   PAPERS. 

1728. 

only  to  the  heir  the  apprais'd  value  :  but  by  some  other  clauses 
etc.  it  came  to  pass  that  people  thought  themselves  enabled  to 
entail  their  negroes,  and  divers  constructions  have  been  made  of 
that  law  seemingly  contradictory  one  to  another  ;  such  it  seems 
are  the  difficultys  of  making  a  perishable  thing  governable  by 
the  same[s]  rules  of  succession  as  lands  of  inheritance.  To 
obviate  these  inconveniencies  and  to  remove  and  avoid  all 
doubt  and  disputes  is  the  design  of  the  act  now  pass'd  ;  whereby 
slaves  remain  still  a  chattell  in  all  cases  of  sale,  gift  or  devise  : 
and  the  husband  by  the  intermarriage  hath  the  absolute 
property  of  all  slaves  that  did  appertain  to  the  wife.  No  entail 
can  be  made  of  slaves  unless  they  are  annex'd  to  entail'd  lands  ; 
and  even  in  that  case,  they  are  liable  to  the  debts  of  the  tennant 
intail.  And  by  the  latter  part  of  this  act  another  doubt  is  ex- 
plained touching  a  clause  of  the  act  for  distribution  of  intestates 
estates,  whereby  the  widow's  right  to  her  share  of  the  real  and 
personal  estate  of  her  husband  is  more  clearly  settled.  These 
are  the  principal  heads  of  this  act  against  which  great  exception 
is  taken  by  many  persons  here,  who  urge  that  it  is  hard  to  vest 
all  the  slaves  of  the  wife  in  the  husband  who  may  squander  away 
his  estate,  sell  her  slaves,  and  leave  her  a  beggar.  That  the 
subjecting  negroes  settled  with  lands  in  tail  to  the  payment  of  the 
debts  of  the  tenant  in  tail,  to  the  prejudice  of  him  in  remainder, 
is  defeating  the  intent  of  the  first  donor,  and  must  render 
ineffectual  all  such  settlements  as  are  made  for  the  encrease  and 
preservation  of  the  estates  in  their  descendants,  inasmuch  as 
lands  without  slaves  are  of  little  value.  But  it  is  argued  on  the 
other  side  that  the  inconveniency  to  the  woman  is  no  greater 
than  if  her  fortune  consisted  in  money,  where  the  absolute 
property  becomes  the  husbands  and  liable  to  his  disposal  : 
that  the  hardship  is  much  greater  when  a  man  marries  a  woman 
whose  portion  is  only  in  slaves,  if  after  maintaining  her  many 
years  suitable  to  her  rank  and  degree,  and  then  she  dying  without 
issue,  her  whole  estate  shall  be  taken  away  from  her  husband  ; 
and  that  if  slaves  were  to  be  settled  in  tail  in  the  same  manner  as 
lands,  many  creditors  would  be  defrauded,  and  especially  the 
British  merchants,  who  can't  be  inform' d  or  always  made  ac- 
quainted wth.  such  settlements,  but  generally  give  credit 
according  to  the  number  of  slaves  they  know  a  man  is  possess'd 
of.  These,  my  Lords,  are  the  arguments  for  and  against  the  bill, 
which  I  submit  to  your  judgment.  The  eight.  An  act  for 
making  more  effectual  provision  against  invasions  and  insur- 
rections, great  part  of  this  act  is  the  same  as  one  pass'd  in  1706 
and  continued  by  many  subsequent  acts  ;  but  there  being  sundry 
defects  in  those  acts,  and  the  burgesses  inclining  to  continue  it 
further  for  two  [?  years]  only,  did  accordingly  prepare  a  bill  for 
that  purpose  :  when  the  Council  resolving  on  a  more  [?  effect]- 
ual  security  rejected  that  bill  and  fram'd  this  now  pass'd  ; 
wherein  besides  ascertaining  of  the  pay  the  Militia  are  to  be 


AMERICA  AND   WEST  INDIES.  119 

1728. 

paid  by  the  publick  if  they  are  call'd  out  into  service  for  above 
two  days  at  any  one  time,  and  their  patroliiig  to  prevent  in  the 
Holydays  the  consultations  of  negroes  is  declared  a  service  for 
which  they  are  entituled  to  pay,  which  was  not  so  before  ;  guards 
are  also  by  this  act  to  be  appointed  by  the  Governor  for  the 
several  batteries,  and  some  other  necessary  regulations  for 
rendring  the  service  of  the  Militia  more  effectual.  So  that 
upon  the  whole  this  is  a  beneficial  law  and  liable  to  no  exception 
that  I  know  of,  unless  that  of  its  being  temporary,  for  three 
years  only,  which  may  be  enlarged  hereafter.  The  ninth. 
An  Act  for  the  better  securing  the  payment  of  levies  etc.  This  is 
the  same  in  substance  with  an  act  bearing  the  same  title  pass'd 
in  1723,  and  being  only  temporary  was  expired ;  There  are  in 
this  act  two  new  clauses,  one  to  declare  what  shall  be  accounted 
a  legal  settlement  to  oblige  the  parish  to  maintain  their  poor  ; 
and  the  other  to  prevent  a  Very  unjust  practice  of  masters  of 
ships  in  turning  away  sick  and  disabled  seamen,  and  so  leaving 
them  either  to  starve,  or  become  a  parish  charge,  both  of  which 
are  I  hope  without  exception.  The  tenth.  An  act  for  the  better 
regulating  and  ascertaining  the  current  rates  of  silver  coin  in 
this  dominion,  and  for  preventing  the  evil  practice  of  cutting 
foreign  gold  into  pieces.  The  drawing  the  silver  coin  out  of  this 
country,  and  introducing  in  the  stead  thereof  the  gold  coin, 
which  passes  at  a  greater  value  was  so  sensibly  felt  in  the 
commerce  of  the  country,  that  is  it  absolutely  necessary  to  raise 
the  value  of  the  silver  in  a  nearer  proportion  to  that  of  the  gold 
currency,  which  yet  is  much  lower  than  the  rates  establish'd  by 
the  Act  of  Parliament  etc.  The  latter  part  of  this  act  is  intended 
to  prevent  a  very  common  but  pernicious  practice  of  clipping 
the  gold  into  small  pieces  for  the  conveniency  of  making  up  the 
weight  where  payments  are  made  in  gold.  This  was  first  begun 
in  the  Northern  Governments,  where  all  sorts  of  coin  have  been 
thus  clipt  and  defaced,  and  has  of  late  been  the  occasion  of  passing 
abundance  of  counterfeit  mettle  resembling  gold,  which  has 
pass'd  unobserved  through  several  hands,  and  the  first  practicers 
of  this  fraud  escaped  undiscovered.  So  that  it  became  necessary 
to  put  a  stop  to  such  an  evil  wch.  I  hope  this  act  will  effectu- 
ally do.  The  eleventh.  An  act  for  the  better  and  more  effectual 
putting  the  penal  laws  in  execution  is  founded  upon  the  experi- 
ence of  the  small  effect  that  prosecutions  on  penal  laws  have 
hitherto  had  towards  the  reforming  of  abuses  and  punishing 
offenders,  partly  through  the  scruples  of  some  Inferior  Courts 
to  take  cognizance  of  penalties  of  small  value,  but  more  especi- 
ally through  the  want  of  knowledge  in  the  persons  who  practice 
the  law  in  the  County  Courts,  whereby  many  judgments  on 
penal  laws  have  been  arrested  or  reversed  for  defects  in  the 
pleadings.  This  act  therefore  directs  that  penalties  under  205. 
may  be  summarily  recovered  on  the  presentment  of  the  Grand 
Jurys  in  the  County  Courts,  and  that  no  defect  or  omission  in 


120  COLONIAL   PAPERS. 

1728. 

form  shall  stay  or  reverse  judgments  for  any  penalty  under 
five  pounds  or  one  thousand  pounds  of  tobacco.  This  indeed 
I  am  informed  is  not  the  practice  in  England  :  yet  our  circum- 
stances differing  greatly  in  respect  to  the  persons  practicing  the 
law  in  our  County  Courts,  make  it  absolutely  necessary  to  find 
out  a  more  effectual  method  of  bringing  offenders  to  punishment, 
than  by  a  strict  adhering  to  forms,  lose  the  effect  of  those  laws 
which  provide  for  the  public  peace  and  the  preservation  of  order 
in  the  Government,  and  justice  and  morality  in  the  members  of 
the  community.  The  twelfth.  An  act  prohibiting  the  exportation 
of  grain  in  time  of  scarcity.  As  this  country  has  suffered  greatly 
by  the  avarice  of  merchants,  who  for  private  gain  have  exported 
corn  and  wheat,  when  the  necessity  of  the  inhabitants  required 
rather  supplies  from  abroad  etc  ;  and  as  the  prohibitions  of  the 
Governour  and  Council,  for  want  of  a  law  to  inflict  punishment 
on  the  offenders,  were  fruitless  and  contemptible  :  It  was  high 
time  for  ye  Legislature  to  resist  so  great  an  evil,  especially,  when 
the  small  crops  made  the  last  year,  and  the  great  consumption 
for  the  support  of  the  stocks  of  cattle  during  the  course  of  a  long 
and  severe  winter  threatened  the  inhabitants  with  an  uncommon 
scarcity.  Therefore  this  act  gives  power  to  the  Governour, 
with  the  advice  of  the  Council  to  prohibit  by  Proclamation  the 
exportation  of  grain  or  other  victuals  when  need  shal  require  ; 
and  lays  a  penalty  on  the  exporter  of  double  the  value  of  the 
corn  exported  etc.  The  good  effect  of  this  act  hath  been  already 
felt  by  preserving  for  the  supply  of  the  inhabitants  a  great 
quantity  of  corn  bought  up  for  exportation,  and  which  would 
certainly  have  been  carried  out,  notwithstanding  my  Proclama- 
tion, but  for  this  seasonable  precaution.  The  thirteenth.  An  act 
for  establishing  the  fees  of  certain  officers  etc.  Here  the  fees  of  the 
Secretary,  County  Court  Clerks,  Sheriffs,  Coroners  and  Const- 
ables are  anew  regulated  and  ascertain'd  for  the  space  of  three 
years  etc.  Some  new  fees  are  added  and  others  moderated 
according  to  the  nature  of  the  service  ;  the  former  law  being 
expired  etc  ;  and  because  the  new  regulation  in  the  Courts  of 
justice  made  it  necessary  to  adapt  the  fees  to  the  circumstances 
of  the  several  proceedings  and  that  law  being  only  temporary, 
it  was  fit  that  those  fees  should  remain  no  longer  than  the  ser- 
vices to  which  they  are  suited  ;  but  if  upon  experience  the  one 
be  found  useful,  and  therefore  thought  fit  to  be  continued,  the 
other  at  the  same  time  will  receive  its  sanction.  The  fourteenth. 
An  Act  for  erecting  a  town  in  each  of  the  counties  of  Spotsilvania 
and  King  George  is  among  the  number  of  publick  acts,  seeing  it 
is  grounded  upon  the  general  benefit  which  the  trade  of  this 
Colony  will  receive  from  it  ;  For  those  two  counties,  especially 
the  former,  being  greatly  encreased  in  inhabitants  and  extended 
on  both  sides  the  branches  of  Rappahannock  River,  and  being 
obliged  to  bring  their  tobacco  to  the  first  landings  where  that 
river  is  navigable,  which  is  just  below  the  Falls  :  their  industry 


AMERICA  AND   WEST   INDIES.  121 

1728. 

has  been  hitherto  much  discouraged  for  want  of  convenient 
storehouses  to  lodge  their  commodities,  and  much  more  for  being 
deprived  of  the  oppertunity  of  selling  the  same  to  advantage, 
the  land  on  both  sides  that  part  of  the  river  being  held  by  private 
persons,  who  not  only  exacted  exorbitant  prices  for  storage, 
but  endeavoured  to  engross  the  whole  trade  themselves,  since 
no  other  merchant  could  settle  there  without  the  consent  of  the 
owners,  which  was  not  to  be  obtained.  To  remove  these  incon- 
veniencies  it  was  judged  expedient  to  appropriate  50  acres  of 
land  on  each  side  that  river,  and  to  lay  it  out  into  lots,  for  the 
use  of  such  as  shal  be  inclined  to  build  warehouses  or  fix  stores 
of  goods  there  for  the  benefit  of  those  remote  inhabitants.  And 
that  the  owners  of  the  land  might  have  no  reason  to  complain 
care  is  taken  to  give  them  a  very  considerable  recompence  of 
no  less  than  forty  shillings  for  each  acre  ;  which  in  truth  is  some- 
times as  much  as  lands  in  those  parts  commonly  are  sold  for  !  tho 
the  owners  of  those  lands  have  unwillingly  parted  with  their 
property  for  this  use,  and  threaten  to  attempt  the  repealing 
this  Act ;  yet  I  must  declare  their  complaints  are  founded, 
more  on  their  humour  and  passion  than  on  reason.  For  the 
Assembly  had  no  other  means  to  relieve  the  hardships  of  the 
Frontier  people,  and  what  they  have  now  done  is,  with  remark- 
able regard  to  justice  and  to  the  interest  of  ye  proprietors  if 
they  know  when  to  be  contented  ;  since  both  their  present 
recompence  is  very  sufficient,  and  the  future  value  of  their 
adjacent  lands  will  be  considerably  augmented,  if,  as  'tis  hop'd, 
those  design'd  towns  come  once  to  be  peopl'd.  So  that  I  hope 
your  Lordships  will  give  little  attention  to  the  very  unreasonable 
clamours  of  private  persons,  in  a  matter  wherein  the  publick  is 
so  much  benefited,  as,  with  submission,  I  think  it  is  by  this  act. 
The  Fifthtenth.  An  act  for  encouraging  adventurers  in  Iron-works. 
This  Act  exempts  the  servants  and  slaves  employed  in  any  iron- 
work already  sett  up,  or  which  for  the  space  of  21  years  next 
coming  shall  be  sett  up,  in  this  Colony,  from  the  payment  of  all 
publick  County  or  Parish  taxes  for  five  years,  after  the  end  of 
this  Session  of  Assembly,  or  for  five  years  from  the  begining 
of  their  respective  undertakings.  They  are  also  to  have  roads  and 
bridges  made  for  them  by  ye  Countys  in  which  they  are  erected, 
and  to  have  some  other  priviledges  of  less  moment,  that  the 
persons  employ'd  in  those  works,  which  require  constant  attend- 
ance, may  not  be  diverted  from  their  business.  I  doubt  not  your 
Lordships  are  well  satisfied  that  the  making  and  carrying  to 
Great  Brittain  pigs  of  iron  is  of  great  advantage  to  the  trade 
thereof,  as  well  as  to  the  benefit  of  this  country  ;  and  that  such 
encouragement  as  the  Assembly  have  thought  fit  to  allow  by  this 
Act,  will  meet  with  all  fitting  countenance  from  your  Lordships 
Board.  The  Sixthtenth.  The  Act  for  raising  a  publick  levy  being 
what  passes  in  course  every  Session,  for  the  payment  of  the  pub- 
lick  tobacco  debts,  all  that  I  shal  remark  thereon  is,  that  seven 


122  COLONIAL   PAPERS. 

1728. 

and  a  half  pounds  of  tobacco  p.  pole  for  near  two  years  publick 
charge,  is  an  evidence  of  the  usefulness  of  the  duty  lately 
laid  on  liquors,  which  has  thus  lessened  that  Pole  Tax,  so  as  to 
render  it  thus  easy  to  the  people.  Having  thus  gone  through  the 
several  Acts  which  are  of  more  general  concernment,  it  remains 
that  I  make  mention  of  the  few  others  which  are  calculated  for 
remedying  particular  inconveniencies.  Such  are  The  17th. 
An  Act  for  dividing  the  County  Henrico.  The  18th.  And  an  Act 
for  erecting  a  new  county  on  the  heads  of  Essex,  King  and  Queen, 
and  King  William  Counties.  These  two  are  occasioned  by  the 
earnest  desires  of  the  people  in  those  parts  of  the  Colony  who 
having  since  the  formation  of  those  first  Counties  extended  their 
settlements  far  from  the  usual  places  of  holding  their  Courts  of 
Justice  ;  the  Assembly  have  for  their  ease  erected  two  new  coun- 
ties whereby  the  inhabitants  may  with  more  conveniency  attend 
their  Courts,  be  ready  at  the  Musters  of  the  Militia  and  other 
publick  meetings.  The  19th.  An  Act  for  killing  squirrels  and 
crows  in  the  counties  of  Accomack  and  Northampton.  It  seems 
these  two  counties  are  more  than  any  other  in  the  Colony 
infested  with  these  destroyers  of  the  fruits  of  the  earth.  Whether 
their  nearness  to  Maryland,  on  the  eastern  shore,  where  the  like 
law  has  subsisted  many  years,  has  driven  them  to  seek  after  a 
safe  retreat  elsewhere,  or  what  other  cause  it  be,  the  people  have 
laboured  for  some  years  past  to  obtain  such  an  Act  as  is  now 
pass'd,  whereby  every  master  of  a  family  is  obliged  to  kill  or 
cause  to  be  kilPd  six  squirrels  or  six  crows  for  every  tithable 
person  in  his  family,  under  the  penalty  of  three  pounds  of 
tobacco  for  every  one  he  is  deficient  in,  to  be  applied  for  lessening 
the  County  levy.  And  this  to  continue  for  three  years,  by  which 
time  the  people  are  in  hopes  to  free  themselves  from  the  injuries 
they  receive  from  these  enemies  to  their  crops.  The  20th.  An 
Act  for  dissolving  the  present  vestry  of  the  parish  of  Elizabeth 
City  etc.  This  was  obtained  from  the  general  complaints  of  the 
inhabitants  of  that  parish,  of  many  irregular  proceedings  of 
the  said  vestry,  and  upon  an  hearing  of  the  parties  there  being 
found  some  reason  on  the  part  of  the  petitioners,  it  was  thought 
fit  to  allow  them  a  new  choice.  But  whether  the  justice  and 
consideration  of  the  new  vestrymen  will  be  greater  than  that 
of  their  predecessors  must  be  left  to  time.  All  I  shall  say  of  this 
bill  being,  that  it  is  sometimes  necessary  to  yeild  to  popular 
humours,  where  the  publick  receives  no  prejudice  by  it,  rather 
than  to  increase  discontents  for  the  sake  of  private  interest. 
The  21st.  An  Act,  to  prevent  swine  running  at  large  within  the 
the  limits  of  the  town  of  Norfolk  is  of  the  same  nature  with  others 
pass'd  in  former  Assemblies  in  favour  of  particular  townships 
and  therefore  needs  no  comment,  since  the  reasons  for 
restraining  those  kind  of  creatures  are  obvious.  The  22nd. 
There  is  one  private  Act  which  still  remains,  that  pass'd  this 
Session,  and  that  is  an  Act  to  enable  William  Farrer  and  Thomas 


AMERICA   AND   WEST  INDIES.  123 

1728. 

Farrer  to  sell  and  convey  certain  entail' 'd  lands,  and  for  settling 
other  lands  and  negroes  of  greater  value  to  the  same  uses.  As  your 
Lordships  will  be  attended  by  the  person  concerned  for  obtaining 
H.M.  Royal  approbation  ;  I  need  only  to  observe  that  this 
bill  has  pass'd  in  all  the  forms  required  by  H.M.  Instructions 
and  as  no  one  offered  to  oppose  it  here,  I  must  believe  that  all 
parties  are  entirely  satisfied  with  the  exchange  proposed  thereby, 
and  desirous  of  its  receiving  that  sanction  which  is  necessary  to 
secure  their  respective  interest.  I  have  further  to  acquaint  your 
Lordships  that  towards  the  end  of  this  Session,  the  Burgesses 
had  under  consideration  the  great  loss  and  inconvenience  which 
this  Colony  sustains  by  being  deprived  of  the  liberty  of  stemming 
tobacco  ;  and  agreed  upon  an  address  to  H.M.  and  a  Petition  to 
the  House  of  Commons  for  repealing  that  part  of  a  late  Act  of 
Parliament  whereby  the  importation  of  tobacco  stript  from  the 
stalk  is  prohibited  ;  in  both  which  the  Council  concurr'd  with 
them.  The  reasons  suggested  for  altering  the  Law  in  this  partic- 
ular, are  at  large  sett  forth  in  the  said  Address  and  Petition,  and 
in  the  Journal  of  the  Council  in  Assembly  of  the  28th  of  March, 
to  which  I  beg  leave  to  refer,  without  offering  any  opinion  of  my 
own  further,  than  that  having  discoursed  with  many  persons 
concerned  in  the  trade,  I  find  it  generally  agreed  that  abundance 
of  good  tobacco  is  now  thrown  away,  which  would  have  been 
ship'd  home  had  the  planters  been  at  liberty  by  stemming  to 
separate  it  from  that  part  of  the  leaf  which  is  really  bad  ;  and  it 
seems  to  be  also  agreed  that  much  of  this  kind  of  tobacco  thrown 
away  by  the  owner  is  yet  by  their  servants  and  slaves  made  up 
into  bundles  and  sold  at  a  small  price  to  sailors,  who  can  have  no 
other  view  of  profit  thereby  than  the  running  it  without  paying 
the  duty  ;  and  if  this  be  so,  as  I  have  great  reason  to  believe  it  is, 
I  doubt  not,  this  application  of  the  Assembly  will  meet  with  a 
favourable  reception.  I  must  not  omit  informing  your  Lordships 
of  one  thing  which  has  occasioned  a  difference  between  the  Coun- 
cil and  Burgesses  this  last  Session,  and  which,  I  am  apprehensive, 
may  afford  matter  of  discontent  in  future  Assemblies.  The 
Burgesses  past  a  resolve  for  paying  their  own  attendance  in 
Assembly  out  of  the  publick  funds  raised  by  the  duty  on  liquors 
at  the  rate  of  tenn  shillings  for  each  hundred  of  tobacco  allowed 
them  by  law.  This  resolve  being  sent  up  to  the  Council  for  their 
concurrence,  was  rejected  :  whereupon  the  Burgesses  immediate- 
ly prepared  a  bill  to  apply  the  money  in  the  Treasurer's  hands 
towards  the  discharge  of  their  salarys  ;  but  this  proceedings 
was  so  much  dislik'd  by  the  Council  that  the  bill  was  thrown 
out  by  a  greater  majority  than  had  voted  against  the  resolve, 
to  the  great  discontent  of  the  House  of  Burgesses  at  their  second 
disappointment,  and  it  cost  me  no  small  trouble  before  I  could 
bring  them  again  into  temper.  The  Burgesses  insist  that  the 
duty  on  liquors  being  laid  for  lessening  the  levy  by  the  poll, 
the  payment  of  their  salaries  is  one  of  the  uses  for  which  it  was 


124  COLONIAL   PAPERS. 

1728. 

appropriated  ;  since  that  must  otherwise  be  raised  by  a  poll  tax 
on  the  people,  and  that  it  has  been  so  discharged  in  four  successive 
Sessions  :  viz.  two  in  the  time  of  Govr.  Spotswood  and  two  in 
the  time  of  Govr.  Drysdale.  On  the  other  hand  the  Council  urge 
that  the  levies  intended  to  be  lessen'd  by  the  duty  have  ever  been 
understood  to  be  no  other  than  the  publick  levy  chargeable 
equally  on  all  the  people  of  the  Colony  ;  whereas  the  sallaries 
of  the  Burgesses  are  chargeable  only  on  the  inhabitants  of  the 
respective  Counties  by  whom  they  are  chosen  ;  and  that  it 
would  be  an  unequal  distribution  of  the  publick  money  to  allow 
the  same  share  of  it  to  a  county  which  has  a  thousand  tithables 
as  one  that  has  three  thousand  ;  that  when  the  payment  of 
Burgesses  was  first  introduced,  there  was  a  considerable  sum  in 
bank,  but  that  now  there  is  not  so  much  as  will  refund  the  money 
appropriated  for  the  encouragement  of  the  hemp  manufacture, 
which  has  since  been  applied  to  other  public  uses  ;  and  lastly,  that 
the  Act  of  Assembly  having  expressly  appointed  the  Burgesses 
to  be  paid  by  their  Counties,  the  Council  cannot  consent  to  their 
being  paid  in  any  other  manner  whilst  that  Act  subsists.  Thus 
I  have  stated  to  your  Lordships  the  ground  of  this  dispute, 
and  can't  help  saying  that  I'm  much  concerned  it  should  arise 
under  my  administration  ;  being  convinced  that  'tis  not  yet 
ended !  And  am  therefore  very  desirous  to  receive  your  Lord- 
ships commands  in  what  manner  I  am  to  act  if  any  such  resolu- 
tion of  the  Burgesses  should  be  taken  hereafter  ;  since  it  may 
happen  that  by  the  change  of  persons  in  the  Council,  or  by  the 
necessary  absence  of  some  of  those  gentlemen  who  have  now 
opposed  this  way  of  payment,  a  contrary  vote  may  be  carried 
in  both  Houses,  and  then  it  will  rest  solely  upon  me  either  to 
dissolve  the  Assembly  by  my  dissent,  or  by  my  assent  to  lessen 
the  publick  fund  which  may  be  necessary  to  be  employed  for 
more  publick  services.  And  herein  your  Lordships  Instructions 
shall  be  my  guide.  I  have  but  one  thing  more  to  mention 
relating  to  the  proceedings  of  the  Assembly  and  that  concerns 
my  self,  on  the  27th  of  February  the  Burgesses  pass'd  a  vote 
for  presenting  me  with  the  sum  of  five  hundred  pounds  curr., 
and  by  their  address  to  me  at  the  conclusion  of  the  Session, 
have  in  very  obligeing  terms  requested  my  acceptance  of  it ;  but 
as  I  [am  strictly  ty?]ed  up  by  my  Instructions  not  to  accept  any 
present  from  the  Assembly,  I  must  humbly  entr[ea£]  yo[w] 
Lordships  favour  so  to  represent  this  act  of  generosity  of  the 
Assembly,  as  that  I  may  obtain  H.M.  permission  to  accept 
thereof,  which  I  hope  will  not  turn  to  the  prejudice  of  H.M. 
service,  having  fix'd  it  as  my  unalterable  resolution  that  my 
private  interest  shal  never  divert  me  from  the  pursuit  of  my 
duty  ;  and  I  hope  it  may  not  be  impossible  to  promote  the 
interest  of  the  Crown  and  at  the  same  time  preserve  the  goodwill 
of  the  people.  Having  now  done  with  the  transactions  of  the 
Assembly  and  designing  to  treat  of  the  other  affairs  of  the 


AMERICA  AND   WEST  INDIES.  125- 

1728. 

government  in  a  letter  apart,  I  shall  conclude  etc.  Sinned, 
William  Gooch.  Endorsed,  Reed.  30th  July,  Read  Oct.  8th,  1728. 
Torn.  71 pp.  [C.O.  5, 1321.  ff.  39,  40-  43t;.  (ivith  abstract).] 

June  8.  261.  Lt.  Governor  Gooch  to  the  Council  of  Trade  and 
piantations>  since  my  last  of  the  14th  of  February,  I  had  the 
honour  to  receive  your  Lordships  of  the  12th  of  December  ; 
and  take  this  first  oppertunity  to  make  my  humble  acknowledg- 
ments for  the  expressions  of  your  Lordships  favours  to  me.  I  now 
send  by  the  conveyance  of  Mr.  Randolph  the  Council  Journals 
and  other  publick  papers  required  by  my  Instructions,  and  shal 
only  trouble  your  Lordships  with  some  few  notes  thereon. 
Sometime  since  I  informed  your  Lordships  that  pursuant  to 
your  commands  I  had  caused  the  opinion  of  the  Attorney  and 
Sollicitor  General  to  be  regist'red  in  the  proper  offices  :  and  in 
the  Council  Journal  of  the  21st  of  March  your  Lordships  will  be 
pleas'd  to  observe  a  determination  agreable  to  that  opinion  of 
some  disputes  between  the  King's  officers,  and  the  agent  of  the 
Proprietors  of  the  Northern  Neck  in  relation  to  sundry  fines  and 
forfeitures  that  have  heretofore  accrued  in  that  territory, 
and  rules  laid  down  for  the  better  collecting  such  of  them  as 
may  hereafter  become  due  to  H.M.,  which  will  prevent  all 
controversy  for  the  future.  Having  according  to  what  I  advised 
your  Lordships  in  my  last  given  commission  to  Mr.  Byrd,  Mr. 
Fitzwilliams  and  Mr.  Dandridge  three  of  the  Council  to  meet  the 
Commissioners  of  Northern  Carolina  in  order  to  settle  the  bound- 
aries. They  mett  at  Currobuck  Inlet  on  the  5th  of  March,  and 
with  much  labour  and  difficulty  proceeded  about  70  miles  on  the 
line  as  your  Lordsps.  will  find  by  their  Journal  which  is  now 
sent  markt  No.  1 .  But  to  the  great  surprise  of  all  who  had  read 
the  report  of  former  Commissioners,  it  is  now  found  that  instead 
of  gaining  a  large  tract  of  land  from  North  Carolina,  the  line 
comes  rather  nearer  to  Virginia  than  that  which  Carolina  has 
always  allow'd  to  be  our  bounds  :  (I  have  herewith  sent  the  plan). 
This  mistake  has  proceeded  from  a  false  observation  of  the 
Latitude,  and  from  not  adverting  to  the  variation  of  the  compass 
which  is  now  found  to  be  3°  from  the  true  west  point ;  yet  as  it 
is  necessary  to  put  an  end  to  a  controversy,  which,  it  seems  has 
been  for  many  years  attended  with  much  inconveniency  to  both 
Governments,  and  no  small  detriment  to  private  persons,  whose 
debtors  found  a  safe  retreat  within  the  bounds  in  dispute,  where 
the  laws  of  neither  Province  could  reach  them,  so  it  will  be  a 
considerable  augmentation  of  H.M.  Revenue  that  the  boundaries 
in  the  inland  part  of  the  country  and  towards  the  Mountains  be 
fix'd,  the  uncertainty  whereon  has  hitherto  discouraged  the 
people  from  taking  up  H.M.  lands,  and  making  settlements  on 
that  frontier.  To  this  purpose  the  Commissioners  are  again  to 
meet  in  September  to  perfect  that  work  ;  and  though  the  expence 
thereof  is  like  to  prove  considerable,  I  hope  it  will  be  more  than 


126  COLONIAL   PAPERS. 

1728. 

recompenced  in  a  few  years  by  the  increase  of  H.M.  quit-rents, 
and  other  advantages  as  well  to  the  trade  as  to  the  security  of 
this  country.  Upon  the  arrival  of  H.M.  ship  the  Biddiford  about 
the  middle  of  April  and  the  intelligence  the  Captain  mett  with 
at  sea,  that  several  Spanish  privateers  were  fitting  out  in  the 
West  Indies  for  cruising  on  this  coast  (which  report  was  con- 
firmed by  the  masters  of  several  sloops  trading  that  way)  I 
judged  it  necessary  by  an  Order  in  Council  of  the  17th  of  last 
month  to  lay  an  embargo  on  the  merchant  ships  and  to  permit 
none  to  sail  hence  but  under  the  convoy  of  the  man  of  war  the 
Captain  whereof  (who  is  a  very  diligent  officer)  has  undertaken 
from  time  to  time  to  conduct  them  in  safety  off  this  coast, 
whereby  it  is  to  be  hop'd  the  designs  of  the  enemy  will  be  disap- 
pointed, who,  'tis  believed,  will  exert  themselves  with  uncommon 
vigour,  by  how  much  they  perceive  the  nearer  approach  of 
Peace,  which,  I  hope,  is  not  now  far  off.  The  surprizing  number 
of  caterpillars  with  which  this  Colony  was  infested  in  the  spring 
of  the  year,  together  with  the  misfortune  of  a  very  short  crop 
of  corn  the  last  year,  gave  the  people  terrible  apprehensions  of 
the  consequences  (and  for  which  I  appointed  a  fast)  but  God 
has  been  pleased  to  remove  the  one  with  very  small  damage  to 
the  fruits  of  the  earth,  and  the  other,  I  hope,  is  in  a  great  meas- 
ure remedied  by  the  seasonable  prohibition  of  the  export  of 
grain,  which,  with  the  near  approach  of  the  wheat  harvest,  of 
which  there  is  a  prospect  of  a  plentiful  crop,  will  afford  a  suffi- 
cient supply  for  the  necessities  of  the  inhabitants — I  have  only 
this  further  remark  to  make  on  the  Journals  of  the  Council 
that  the  great  number  of  petitioners  for  land  mentioned  in  the 
Minutes  of  the  8th  of  February,  and  the  publick  accounts  which 
go  herewith,  will  be  an  evidence  of  the  increase  of  the  Colony, 
and  the  flourishing  condition  of  the  King's  Revenue,  nor  is  there 
any  reason  to  doubt,  but  that  the  Customs  at  home  will  still  be 
augmented  by  the  export  of  tobacco,  the  product  of  those  new 
settlements.  I  shal  by  the  next  conveyance  send  your  Lordships 
a  list  of  gentlemen  fit  to  serve  at  the  Council  Board  ;  and  lay 
before  your  Lordships  a  state  of  the  Stores  of  War.  And  by  the 
same  opportunity  shall  present  to  the  Board  of  Ordinance  our 
wants  of  that  kind,  which  I  hope  to  obtain  the  more  easily  upon 
the  happy  conclusion  of  that  Peace  now  negociating  ;  for  even 
then  our  coasts,  nay  I  may  say  our  roads  and  harbours  in  all 
likelihood  will  be  infested  with  pirates.  I  informed  your  Lord- 
ships by  a  letter  in  a  Bristol  ship,  I  think  it  was,  that  altho' 
my  orders  were  as  quick  as  possible,  the  masters  of  the  ships, 
taken  in  September  last,  were  in  three  days  with  the  men  they 
had  with  them  all  dispers'd.  and  I  could  get  no  further  knowledge 
of  them  ;  and  this  letter  was  sent  19th  Oct.  and  this  is  the 
substance  of  it.  I  thought  it  best  to  send  all  the  publick  papers 
in  a  box  directed  to  your  Lordships  by  Mr.  Randolph,  with  orders 
to  deliver  them  himself  without  the  charge  of  postage,  which  I 


AMERICA  AND   WEST  INDIES. 


127 


1728. 


June  9. 

Virginia . 


261. 


was  sensible  would  amount  to  a  considerable  sum  :  to  forward 
this  by  post  as  soon  as  he  arrives  in  England,  and  in  this  I  hope 
I  have  not  err'd  etc.  Signed,  William  Gooch.  Endorsed,  Reed. 
30th  July,  Read  8th  Oct.,  1728.  Holograph.  \lpp.  Enclosed, 
261.  i.  List  of  papers  enclosed,  i  p. 

ii.  (a)  Proclamations  by  Lt  Governor  Gooch,  April  17, 
1728,  prohibiting  the  entertainment  of  sailors  belonging 
to  H.M.  ships  of  war  etc.  (b)  Proclamation,  27th 
April,  1728,  prohibiting  the  exportation  of  grain  etc. 
(c)  Proclamation,  27th  April,  1728,  appointing  a  day  of 
fasting.  "  Whereas  it  hath  pleased  Almighty  God  in  a 
very  surprising  and  unusual  manner  to  overspread 
this  Dominion  with  vast  multitudes  of  catterpillars  " 
etc.  Endorsed,  Reed.  30th  July,  1728.  3  pp. 
iii.  Journal  of  Commissioners  for  settling  boundaries 
betwixt  Virginia  and  Carolina.  5th  March—  5th  April, 
1728.  Signed,  W.  Byrd,  R.  Fit/,william,  W.  Dandridge. 
Same  endorsement.  9j  pp. 

iv.  Account  of  H.M.  Revenue  of  Virginia.  25th  Oct. 
1727  —25th  April,  1728.  Totals,  £7736  8  2J,  including 
balance  brought  forward,  £6304  6  ll£.  Disbursements, 
£2431  13  2£.  Carried  forward,  £6304  15.  Signed  and 
sworn  by  John  Grymes,  Recr.  General.  Audited  by, 
Henry  Willis,  Depty.  Auditor.  2  pp. 
v.  Account  of  H.M.  revenue  of  Quit  rents,  25th  April, 
1727—1728.  Totals,  £6176  0  11  f,  including  balance 
brought  forward,  £3277  3  10£.  Expenditure,  £1069 
0  2.  Balance  carried  forward,  £5107  0  Of.  Signed 
as  preceding.  Endorsed  as  No.  ii.  4<pp.  [C.O.  5,  1321. 
ff.  (including  abstract)  44  —  45,  4Qv.  —  50,  5Iv  —  5Qv., 


261. 


261. 


261. 


262.  Lt.  Governor  Gooch  to  the  Duke  of  Newcastle.  I  have 
now  the  honour  to  convey  to  your  Grace  the  journals  and  acts 
of  a  General  Assembly,  which  has  been  lately  held  here,  and 
wherein  there  are  many  things  past,  which  I  hope  may  be  of 
singular  benefit  to  this  Colony,  Your  Grace  will  be  attended  by 
a  Gentleman  of  this  country,  one  Mr.  Randolph  appointed  by  the 
Assembly  to  bring  over  an  Address  to  H.M.  and  a  petition  to 
the  House  of  Commons  for  taking  off  the  prohibition  laid  by 
Act  of  Parliament  on  the  importation  of  stemm'd  tobacco 
which  is  represented  to  be  as  greatly  to  the  prejudice  of  H.M. 
Customs,  as  it  is  injurious  to  the  Planters  here,  a  considerable 
part  of  whose  labour  is  rend'red  useless  by  it.  I  am  perswaded, 
if  nothing  else  stands  in  its  way,  I  need  use  no  arguments  to 
induce  your  Grace  to  favour  this  representation,  where  the 
King's  interest  concurs  wth.  the  benefit  of  his  people.  I  shal 
not  trouble  your  Grace  with  any  observations  on  the  Journals 
of  the  Council  or  other  publick  papers  which  go  with  this 
conveyance  :  but  beg  leave  humbly  to  recommend  the  case  of 


128  COLONIAL   PAPERS. 

1728. 

one  Sarah  Williamson  a  poor  Indian  woman  convicted  here 
for  the  supposed  murder  of  her  own  child,  though  she  was  then 
a  married  woman,  and  not  under  any  temptation  to  conceal 
the  birth  of  it.  There  were  indeed  very  strong  presumptions  but 
no  possitive  proof  of  her  guilt  :  but  her  Christian  behaviour 
during  the  time  of  her  tryal  and  imprisonment,  her  resignation 
under  her  sentence,  her  willingness  to  die,  and  at  the  same  time 
her  constancy  in  denying  the  fact,  with  some  other  circum- 
stances, perswade  me  that  she  was  not  guilty,  and  that  her 
ignorance  betray'd  her  into  the  resolution  of  burying  the  child 
privately,  which  she  constantly  affirms  was  born  dead.  Where- 
fore I  humbly  pray  your  Grace  so  to  represent  this  state  of  her 
case  to  H.M.  for  his  royal  mercy,  that  she  may  be  put  into 
the  next  Newgate  pardon  as  has  been  the  practice  heretofore  in 
cases  of  the  like  nature,  or  that  I  may  have  H.M.  warrant  for 
passing  her  pardon  under  the  seal  of  this  Colony.  I  very  much 
depend  upon  your  Grace's  favour,  that  I  may  be  allowed  to  accept 
of  the  present  made  to  me  by  the  Assembly,  and  which,  by  their 
Address  to  me  at  the  conclusion  of  the  Session,  they  did  in  very 
obliging  terms  request  my  acceptance  of,  'twas  £500  curr.  wch. 
is,  if  anything,  but  little  more  than  £400  ster.  Living  here  my 
Lord  Duke  is  much  more  expensive  than  formerly,  and  not 
many  years  since  £300  would  have  done  as  much  as  £700  will  do 
now.  I  am  above  all  things  intent  upon  the  faithfull  discharge 
of  my  duty  to  my  Royal  Master  etc.  Signed,  William  Gooch. 
Endorsed,  R.  July  30th.  Holograph.  1  p.  Enclosed, 

262.  i.  Address  of  the  Council  and  Burgesses  of  Virginia  to  the 
King.  Your  Majesty's  most  dutiful  and  loial  subjects 
etc.  having  experienced  the  late  Act  of  Parliament, 
whereby  the  importation  of  tobacco  stript  from  the 
stalk  is  prohibited,  are  persuaded,  that  on  the  one  hand 
the  industry  of  the  planter  is  greatly  discouraged,  and 
bad  and  unmerchantable  tobacco  shipped  off  from 
hence  is  increased,  while  a  greater  quantity  of  a  better 
sort  of  tobacco  is  suppressed  ;  and,  on  the  other,  your 
Majesty's  Customs  are  considerably  diminished,  and 
many  frauds  in  the  running  such  tobacco  are  introduced 
and  encouraged.  In  consideration  whereof  we  presume 
in  all  humility  to  apply  to  your  sacred  Majesty  and  at 
the  same  time  to  petition  your  Parliament  for  relief 
etc.  Propose  repeal  of  part  of  said  Act.  Signed,  in  behalf 
of  the  Council,  Robert  Carter  ;  Jn.  Holloway,  Speaker 
of  the  House  of  Burgesses.  Endorsed,  Rd.  Novr.,  1728. 
1  large  p.  [C.O.  5, 1337.  Nos.  42,  43.] 

June  9.          263.     Capt.  Bowdler  to  the  Council  of  Trade  and  Plantations. 

Salop.        Describes  unhealthy  position  of  Fort  King  George  etc.    Signed, 

John  Bowdler.     Endorsed,  Reed,  llth,  Read  13th  June,  1728. 

Addressed,    Postmark,  Shrewsbury.   I  p.    [C.O.  5, 360.  ff.  70,  70i;.] 


AMERICA  AND   WEST  INDIES. 


129 


1728. 

June  12.         264.     Order  of  King  in  Council.    Repealing  Act  of  St.  Christ- 

st.  James's,  ophers  repealing  an  Act  for  settling  £2000  on  Governor  Hart  etc., 

in  accordance  with  the  report  of  the  Council  of  Trade  (v.  A.P.C. 

Ill,  147).    Signed,  Temple  Stanyan.    Endorsed,  Reed.  19th  Oct., 

Read     20th  Nov.,  1728.    2  pp.    [C.O.  152,  16.     ff.  359,  359i;., 


June  12. 

St.  James's. 


June  12. 

St.  James's. 


June  12. 

St.  James's. 


June  12. 

St.  James's. 


June  12. 

St.  James's. 


265.  Order  of    King  in  Council.     Confirming    Act    of  St. 
Christophers,  against  covenous  and  fraudulent  conveyances,  the 
Committee  of  the  Council  to  whom  it  and  the  representation 
upon  it  were  referred  having  heard  Counsel  for  both  parties,  and 
reporting  that  the  main  objection  is  the  loss  of  a  small  casual 
profit  to  the    petitioner   against   it,    and   agreeing   in   opinion 
with  the  Lords  Commissioners  for  Trade,  that  the  same  ought 
not  to  stand  in  competition  with  so  great  and  general  a  good, 
as  in  all  probability  will  result  to  the  inhabitants  and  commerce 
of  St.    Christophers   from   this   Act.     Signed  and  endorsed  as 
preceding.     2|  pp.     [C.O.  152,  16.  ff.  861— 862i>.] 

266.  Order  of  King  in  Council.   Approving  drafts  of  Instruc- 
tions for  Lt.  Governor  Pitt  and  appointing  Councillors  proposed 
etc.    Signed,  Temple  Stanyan.    Endorsed,  Reed.  19th  Oct.,  Read 
20th  Nov.,  1728.    IJrd  pp.    [C.O.  37,  12.  ff.  31,  Sir;.,  34i;.  ;  and 
5,  193.  ff.  601,  601  v.] 

267.  Order  of  King  in  Council.      Approving  draughts  of 
Additional  Instructions  for  the  Governors  of  New  Hampshire, 
the  Massachusets  Bay,  Rhode  Island,  Connecticut,  New  York 
and  New  Jersey,  directing  them  to  be  aiding  and  assisting  to 
H.M.  Surveyor  Generall  of  the  Woods    and    his    deputies  etc. 
Signed  and  endorsed  as  preceding.  1  p.  [C.O.  323,  8.  No.  96  ;  and 
5, 194.  /.  411.] 

268.  Copies   of  above   Instructions   to   Governor  of  New 
Hampshire  and  Governor  and  Company  of  Rhode  I.    [C.O.  5, 
194.  ff.  412,  416.] 

269.  Order  of  King  in  Council.    Referring  following  to  the 
Council   of  Trade   and   Plantations   for  their  report.     Signed, 
Temple    Stanyan.     Endorsed,  Reed.,   Read  14th  June,    1728. 
1  p.   Enclosed, 

269.  i.  Petition  of  Francis  Whitworth  to  the  King.  There  is  no 
salary  attached  to  the  offices  of  Secretary  of  Barbados, 
Secretary  to  the  Governor,  Secretary  to  the  Governor 
and  Council  and  Clerk  of  the  several  Courts,  to  which 
offices  petitioner  was  appointed  in  1718.  He  is  at  very 
great  and  constant  expence  in  providing  an  office  and 
stationary  ware,  and  clerks  to  make  copies  of  Minutes 
and  Acts.  There  is  due  to  him  from  the  Public  for  fees 

C.P.  xxxvi— 9 


130 

1728. 


COLONIAL   PAPERS. 


from  2nd  April  1719  to  1st  March,  1726,  £1333.  12.  6. 
Prays  H.M.  to  recommend  to  the  Government  of  the 
said  Island  payment  thereof.  Signed,  Frans.  Whit- 
worth.  Copy.  l*pp. 

269.  ii.  Account  of  F.  Whit  worth  as  preceding.   Signed,  Frans. 
Whitworth.    Copy.   If  pp.   [C.O.  28,  19.  ff.  184,  185— 


June  12.         270.     Order  of  King  in  Council.     Referring  to  Committee 
St.  James's,   representation    of   10th   Nov.    1726    on   the    Bahama    Islands. 
Signed,  Temple  Stan  van.     Endorsed,    Reed.    19th  Oct.,    Read 
20th  Novr.,  1728.     I  p.     [C.O.  23,  2.  ff.  178,  179i>.] 


June  12. 

St.  James's. 


271 .  Order  of  King  in  Council.  The  representation  of  the 
Board  of  Trade  upon  Col.  Philipps'  memorial  is  referred  to  a 
Committee  of  the  Privy  Council.  Signed,  Temple  Stanyan. 
Endorsed,  Reed.  19th  Oct.,  Read  20th  Nov.,  1728.  1  p.  [C.O.  217, 
5.  //.  93;  94».] 


June  12.        272.     Order  of  King  in  Council.   Referring  to  a  Committee  of 
St.  James's,    the    Privy    Council    the   petition    of   Duke    of   Montagu  for  a 
grant  of  Tobago  etc.  and  the  report  of  the  Council  of  Trade  there- 
on.   Signed  and  endorsed  as  preceding.     1    p.     [C.O.    28,    20. 
ff.  64,  65i>.] 

June  12.         273.     Order   of  King  in   Council.      Approving   draught   of 
St.  James's.    Instructions  for  Governors  for  the  alteration-  in  the  prayers  for 

the  Royal  Family  etc.    Signed  and  endorsed  as  preceding.    1  p. 

[C.O.  323,  8.   No.  94.] 

June  12.  274.  Order  of  King  in  Council.  Approving  new  Seals  for 
St.  James's.  Massachusets  Bay,  New  Hampshire,  New  Jersey  and  the  Bermu- 
da Islands,  and  ordering  warrants  to  be  prepared  for  Governors 
to  use  them  and  return  the  old  ones.  Signed,  Edward  Southwell. 
Endorsed,  Reed,  llth,  Read  16th  July,  1728.  1  p.  [C.O.  5,  870. 
ff.  117,  118».] 

June  12.         275.     Order  of  King  in  Council.     Referring  representation 

St.  James's.    On  petition  of  John  Elliot  to  the  Lords  Commissioners  of  the 

Treasury,  "  to  do  therein  for  the  petitioner  as  to  their  Lordships 

shall  seem  proper."    Signed,  Temple  Stanyan.    Endorsed,  Reed. 

19th  Oct.,  Read  20th  Nov.,  1728.  1  p.  [C.O.  5,  870.  ff.  125, 126r.j 

[June  12.]  276.  Memorial  of  loss  and  damage  (£2611.  18.  9)  sustained 
by  Thomas  Rudge  of  Portsmouth,  owner  of  the  KiUmiston  and 
part  cargo,  and  John  Govan  of  London  and  the  estate  of  John 
Cawood,  deed.,  South  Carolina,  and  Samuel  Hawling,  owners  of 


AMERICA  AND   WEST  INDIES.  131 

1728. 

part  cargo  (deerskins  and  rice),  captured  by  a  Spanish  privateer, 
July,  1727,  in  her  voyage  from  Charles  Town  to  London.  No 
signature  or  endorsement.  1  p.  Enclosed, 

276.  i,  ii.  Accounts  of  above  goods.     Signed,    John    Govan. 

Endorsed,  Reed.  12th  June,  1728.  2  pp. 

276.  iii.  Memorandum  of  vouchers.     \C.O.  388,  27.    Nos.  67, 
67.  i— iii.] 

[June  12.]  277.  Memorandum  of  vouchers,  mislaid,  for  the  losses  of 
the  William  and  Cord  of  New  England.  Slip.  [C.O.  388,  27. 
ATo.  68.] 

[Juue  13.]  278.  Memorial  of  loss  and  damage  (£64.  4.  2)  sustained  by 
Joseph  Judge,  of  ye  Pyde-Bull  without  Temple  Barr,  for  goods 
consigned  by  him  to  John  Osborne  and  Company  merchants 
at  Boston,  on  board  the  Anne  brigantine,  Thomas  Jenkins 
master,  and  captured  17th  May,  1727  by  a  Spanish  ship,  in 
her  voyage  from  London  to  Boston.  No  signature,  date  or 
endorsement.  1  p.  [C.O.  388.  27.  No.  69.] 

[June  13.]  279.  Invoices  of  goods  shipped  on  board  the  Anne  (v. 
preceding}  the  property  of  and  consigned  to  Capt.  Gilbert 
Bant  (£44.  18.  2),  Andrew  Faneuill  (£257.  3.  8),  Thomas  Fitch, 
(£402.  10),  John  and  James  Alford  (£181. 19.  2).  5pp.  [C.O.  388, 
27.  Nos.  70— 74.] 

[June  13.]  280.  Accounts  of  goods  shipped  on  board  the  Anne  (v. 
preceding)  belonging  to  Parkin  and  Stilwell,  Ironmongers,  in 
Foster  Lane  (£160.  10.  10)  ;  and  of  goods  consigned  to  Samuel 
Banister  of  Boston  (£354.  10) ;  Thomas  Clement  of  Boston, 
(£282  16  I-*-)  ;  Joshua  Winslow,  merchant,  Boston  (£154). 
Gpp.  [C.O.  388,  27.  Nos.  75— 78.] 

June  13.  281.  President  Middleton  to  the  Duke  of  Newcastle.  I  am 
^ownf  sorry.  we  are  obliged  soe  often  to  represent  to  the  Government 
So.  Carolina,  the  difficulty  we  labour  under,  from  the  new  scituation  of  St. 
Augustine  to  this  place,  who  without  any  regard  to  peace  or 
warr,  doe  continually  annoy  our  southern  frontiers.  The  host- 
ility s  they  commit  upon  us  may  be  rather  termed  robbery 
murders  and  pyracys,  they  acting  the  part  of  bandittis,  more  then 
soldiers,  theire  cheife  aim  being  to  murder  and  plunder.  Wee 
formerly  complained  of  their  receiveing  and  harbouring  all  our 
runaway  negroes,  but  since  that  they  have  found  out  a  new  way 
of  sending  our  own  slaves  against  us,  to  rob  and  plunder  us  ; 
They  are  continually  fitting  out  partys  of  Indians  from  St. 
Augustine  to  murder  our  white  people,  rob  our  plantations 
and  carry  off  our  slaves,  soe  that  wee  are  not  only  at  a  vast 
expence  in  guarding  our  southern  frontiers,  but  the  inhabitants 
are  continually  allarmed,  and  have  noe  leizure  to  looke  after 


132  COLONIAL   PAPERS. 

1728. 

theire  crops.  The  Indians  they  send  against  us  are  sent  out  in 
small  partys  headed  by  two  three  or  more  Spaniards  and  some- 
times joined  with  negroes,  and  all  the  mischeife  they  doe,  is  on 
a  sudden,  and  by  surprize  :  and  the  moment  they  have  done  it, 
they  retire  againe  to  St.  Augustine,  and  then  fit  out  againe,  so 
that  our  plantations,  being  all  scattering,  before  any  men  can  be 
got  together,  the  robbers  are  fled,  and  nobody  can  tell  how  soon 
it  may  be,  or  where  they  intend  to  make  theire  next  attempt : 
This  trade  they  have  followed  these  twenty  yeares,  and  is  a  very 
greate  discouragement  to  the  settlers  of  our  southern  frontiers 
to  be  always  obliged  to  hold  the  plough  in  one  hand,  and  the 
sword  in  the  other.  I  shall  not  now  repeat  the  representations 
formerly£made  on  this  score,  but  confine  myself  to  what  has 
happened  of  late.  In  August  1726,  the  Governor  of  St.  Augustine 
fitted  out  a  small  party  of  Cussuba  Indians  from  thence,  who 
came  upon  Trenches  Island  (within  ten  miles  of  Port  Royall) 
murdered  and  plundered  one  Richard  Dawson  and  his  wife. 
In  Sept.  ]  726  they  fitted  out  a  small  party  of  Yamasee  Indians, 
abt.  seven  in  number,  who  entring  the  house  of  Mr.  John 
Edwards  on  Combahee  River  (within  six  miles  of  Port  Royall) 
and  haveing  murdered  him,  they  tooke  away  all  his  household 
goods  and  four  negroes  and  carryed  them  to  Augustine,  where 
they  were  seen  by  several  of  our  people,  who  were  afterwards 
carryed  there  prisoners  themselves.  In  June  last,  the  Governour 
of  St.  Augustine,  fitted  out  a  party  of  Indians,  who  comeing  into 
the  settlemts.  on  the  back  of  Port  Royall,  they  first  murderd., 
and  then  plunderd.  one  William  Lavy  and  John  Sparkes,  spareing 
the  lives  of  their  wives,  but  told  them  there  was  a  large  party 
both  of  Indians  and  Spaniards  fitting  out  from  St.  Augustine 
who  had  received  orders  from  the  Governour  to  spare  noebody. 
On  the  23rd  or  24th  of  July  last  one  Capt.  Smalwood  as  he  was 
going  up  to  his  tradeing  house  at  the  forks  at  Alatamaha 
neare  H.M.  Garrison  in  his  perriaugua  with  four  others  namely 
John  Annesley,  Charles  Smith,  Joseph  Abbot  and  John 
Hutchinsori  were  sett  upon  by  34  Indians  that  came  from 
Augustine,  26  whereof  were  Yamasees,  who  have  sheltered  them- 
selves under  that  Castle  for  several  yeares  past,  and  murdered 
and  scalped  all  the  five  persons  abovementioned,  and  then  robb'd 
them  of  all  they  had  on  board,  to  the  value  of  £300  ;  After  this 
they  broke  open  the  store  and  tooke  from  thence  3000  deerskins, 
besides  Indian  tradeing  goods.  At  the  same  time  they  tooke 
three  others  prisoners,  one  John  Gray  and  William  Gray  and  one 
Beans,  and  carryed  them  to  St.  Augustine  where  they  were  all 
imprisoned  by  the  Governour  for  several  months  ;  The  Govern- 
our of  St.  Augustine  received  these  Indians  with  a  great  deale 
of  pleasure  and  satisfaction,  and  paid  them  for  the  scalps  of  those 
they  had  murthered.  Whilst  the  Grays  remained  prisoners  at 
St.  Augustine  the  Governour  fitted  out  about  48  Indians  more, 
headed  by  two  Spaniards.  The  Indians  informed  the  said  Grays 


AMERICA  AND   WEST   INDIES.  133 

1728. 

that  theire  orders  were  to  kill  and  destroy  all  the  white  persons 
they  could  and  take  what  negroes  they  could,  that  the  Governour 
of  Augustine  had  promised  'em  30  peeces  of  eight  pr.  head  for 
every  white  man's  scalp  and  100  for  every  live  negroe  etc.  These 
were  supposed  to  be  the  party  of  Indians  that  soone  after  mur- 
thered  one  Henry  Mushoe  and  He/ekiah  Wood  within  the  body 
of  the  settlement  of  this  Province,  and  carryed  off  ten  slaves  ; 
At  the  same  time  the  Indians  set  upon  Mushoe  and  Wood,  the 
Indians  (out  of  respect  to  Wood)  would  have  saved  his  life, 
but  a  Spaniard  tooke  up  a  billet  of  wood  and  knock'd  out  his 
braines  ;  These  were  pursued  by  a  party  of  15  of  our  men,  under 
Capt.  John  Bull,  who  retooke  all  the  said  negroes  and  plunder, 
killed  six  Indians  and  one  Spaniard  they  found  the  next 
day  and  wounded  many  more  of  the  Indians,  who  dyed 
in  their  returne,  soe  that  but  few  of  them  arrived  at  St. 
Augustine  and  we  lost  one  white  man  in  the  engagement ; 
The  Governour  of  Augustine  seemed  extreemly  troubled 
at  this  repulse  made  by  Capt.  Bull  and  to  prevent  the 
Yamasees  from  being  discouraged,  he  sent  up  to  the  Creeks  to 
joyne  'em  and  made  another  attempt.  On  26th  Sept.  last  the 
Governour  of  Augustine  fitted  out  two  perriauguas  manned  with 
six  of  our  runaway  slaves  and  the  rest  Indians  who  came  upon 
Trench  Island  and  set  upon  the  house  of  one  Alexander  Dawson, 
where  they  killed  and  carryed  away  four  children  and  four  men 
and  women.  The  Indians  would  have  murtherd  them  all,  for  the 
sake  of  the  scalps,  but  this  time  the  negroes  would  not  agree  to 
it,  and  the  Spaniards  themselves  told  Dawson,  when  he,  together 
with  some  of  the  rest,  were  carryed  prisoners  into  St.  Augustine, 
that  the  Governour  had  agreed  with  the  Indians  to  give  them 
30  peices  of  eight  for  each  white  man's  scalp  and  a  hundred 
peices  of  eight  for  each  negroe.  It  seems  the  Governour  of  St. 
Augustine  makes  merchandize  of  our  slaves,  and  ships  them  off 
to  the  Havanah  for  his  own  profit,  as  we  are  told  by  the  Spaniards 
themselves  at  Augustine.  In  January  last  was  twelvemonth, 
they  also  surprized  one  of  the  souldiers  of  H.M.  garrsion  at 
Alatamaha,  and  carryed  him  prisoner  to  St.  Augustine.  About 
15th  July  last  a  Spanish  Capt. with  five  souldiers  came  up  to  our 
Creeks  and  made  presents  to  the  Indians,  and  perswaded  them 
to  tye  all  our  Indian  traders  and  packhorse  men,  and  carry  them 
to  St.  Augustine  but  the  Indians  refused.  About  20th  Oct.  last, 
the  Governour  of  St.  Augustine  fitted  out  a  schooner  mann'd 
with  Spaniards  and  our  own  runaway  slaves  to  steal  other 
slaves,  and  rob  our  plantations  along  the  coast,  who  entring 
North  Edisto  river  surprized  the  plantation  of  one  David 
Ferguson,  plunderd  it,  and  carryed  away  seven  slaves.  When 
this  was  complained  of  to  the  Governour  of  St.  Augustine,  he 
pretended  they  were  pirates  and  had  no  authority  for  it,  when  at 
the  same  time  we  had  several  prisoners  at  Augustine  who  saw  the 
said  schooner  fitted  out  by  the  Governour's  orders.  By  reason 


134  COLONIAL   PAPERS. 

1728. 

of  these  continual  depredations  and  robberys  committed  on  the 
Southern  frontiers,  the  inhabitants  are  continually  allarmed,  and 
the  companyes  forced  to  be  kept  under  arms  almost  perpetu- 
ally, their  plantations  run  to  wreck,  and  the  people  (tired  out 
with  fatigue)  were  all  about  to  desert  the  most  valuable  part  of 
the  country.     At  the  same  time  our  merchantmen  were  daily 
taken  off  our  harbours,  by  vessells  fitted  out  from  the  Havanah  ; 
Upon  these  emergencys  I  called  the  Assembly  together  the  27th 
of  August  last  and  upon  mature  advice  with  my  Council,  wee 
agreed  to  form  a  party  of  100  white  men  and  about  100  Indians 
to  goe  and  cut  off  these  Yamasees  etc.,  and  sent  them  under  the 
command  of  Col.  John  Palmer.     Coll.  Palmer  on  his  march  was 
informed  that  they  had  sheltered  themselves  in  an  Indian  towne 
neare  the  Castle    of    St.   Augustine.      Coll.   Palmer  by  secret 
marches  in  the  night  arrived  undiscovered  on  9th  March.     He 
fell  upon  the  Indians  at  breake  of  day,  and  killed  about  thirty, 
and  tooke  about  fourteen  prisoners  and  wounded  several  more, 
but  offered  noe  injury  to  the  Spaniards,  altho'  it  was  in  theire 
power  to  have  cut  off  theire  whole  towne  (lying  without  theire 
garrison).    For  I  had  given  express  orders  not  to  molest  any  of 
the  Spaniards,  but  we  think  it  an  extreem  hardship  that  the 
Spaniards  should  daily  head  the  Indians  and  our  hands  be  tyed 
up.     I  earnestly  entreat  your  Grace  that  we  may   have    some 
special  Instruction  on  this  behalf.  Our  party  set  fire  to  an  Indian 
towne  and  plunderd  an  Indian  Church,  and  tho'  we  offered  noe 
injury  to  the  Spaniards,  they  fired  all  theire  cannon  on  our  men 
from  theire  Castle  walls  for  three  days  successively.    There  was 
another  expedition  intended  to  be  formed  of  300  men  to  be  sent 
against  the  lower  Creek  Indians,  who  were  too  buisy  in  joyning 
the  Yamasees  in  some  of  these  incursions.   But  the  Creeks  being 
brought  to  reason  by  our  Agent,  that  expedition  fell  to  the 
ground,  which  saved  several  thousand  pounds  expence.    Much 
about  the  same  time  I  was  obliged  to  fit  out  a  sloope  under  the 
command  of  Capt.  Thomas  Mount  joy  mannd  with  90  men  to 
protect  our  coast  from  the  Spaniards  who  tooke  our  vessells 
off  our  harbour  daily.  Indeed  I  could  not  tell  but  that  they  were 
Spanish  pirates  at  first,  for  I  was  not  under  any  apprehensions 
of  a  warr  between  the  two  Crowns  at  that  time.    Inclosed  is  the 
Commission  and  Instructions  I  gave  to  the  Commander.     All 
these  matters  were  carryed  on  by  the  unanimous  consent  of 
H.M.  Council  and  the  Lower  House  of  Assembly  and  agreable  to 
H.M.  95th  Instruction.  But  when  the  moneys  come  to  be  raised, 
the  Assembly  according  to  their  wonted  custom,  would  agree  to 
raise  no  moneys,  but  what  should  come  out  of  the  bills  which 
by  law  and  H.M.  Instructions  were  to  be  burnt  or  sunck,  soe 
that  I  was  under  this  fatall  dilemma  of  letting  the  people  be  des- 
troyed etc.  unless  I  did  consent  etc.   Wherefore  I  hope  your  Grace 
will  hold  me  excused  for  consenting  to  a  thing  sore  against  my 
inclination  and  which  I  could  not  possibly  avoid.  Inclosed  I  send 


AMERICA   AND   WEST   INDIES.  135 

1728. 

your  Grace  an  attested  copy  of  the  resolve  of  the  Lower  House 
wherein  they  declare  that  they  would  do  it  in  noe  other  manner 
whatsoever,  then  out  of  the  fund  for  sincking  these  bills  ;  How- 
ever I  tooke  care  to  continue  the  sincking  fund  by  the  same 
Expedition  Law,  as  soone  as  these  charges  were  defrayed,  and 
which  are  now  at  an  end  ;  Since  the  Spaniards  have  been  soe 
unjust  as  to  misrepresent  theire  affaires  by  theire  expresses  to 
the  Havanah,  that  they  were  beseiged  by  the  English  with  sever- 
al thousand  men,  I  am  apprehensive  they  will  make  some  use 
of  it  at  home  ;  But  I  assure  your  Grace  there  were  noe  more 
then  100  white  men  and  100  Indians,  as  will  appeare  by  the 
muster  rolls,  and  that  we  offerd  no  hostility  to  the  Spaniards, 
tho'  it  was  in  our  power  to  have  done  what  we  pleased,  and  tho' 
at  the  same  time  in  our  sight  they  threw  30  men  into  an  Indian 
fort  to  prevent  our  attacking  it.  Wee  beg  therefore  your  Grace 
will  obtain  peremptory  orders  from  the  Court  of  Spaine  to 
theire  Govr.  at  St.  Augustine  to  cease  these  hostilityes,  and  in 
case  they  continue  'em,  wee  may  have  leave  from  H.M.  to  doe 
ourselves  justice,  for  if  our  hands  be  soe  strictly  tyed  up,  this 
country  will  be  inevitably  lost  to  the  Crown  of  Great  Britain. 
Signed,  Ar.  Middleton.  Endorsed,  R.  Sept.  3rd.  4|  pp.  Enclosed, 
281.  i.  Act  of  S.  Carolina  for  carrying  on  several  Expeditions 
against  our  Indian  and  other  enemies,  1727.  Copy. 
Signed,  Char.  Hart,  Secry.  2?  pp. 

281.  ii.  Journal  and  correspondence  of  Col.  Charlesworth 
Glover,  Major  David  Durham,  Commander  of  Fort 
Moore,  and  others,  relating  to  the  Creek  Indians, 
March,  1728.  Copy.  32%  pp. 

281.  iii.  Resolution  of  the  Assembly  S.  Carolina,  Sept.  2,  1727, 
to  pay  for  the  Expedition  out  of  the  sinking  fund  etc. 
Copy.  \p. 

281.  iv.  President  Middleton's  Commission  and  Instructions 
to  Col.  John  Palmer  to  command  against  the  Yama- 
sees.  (v.  covering  letter.}  Signed,  Ar.  Middleton.  Copy. 
I  p. 

281.  v.  Commission  of  Capt.  Thomas  Mountjoy  for  the 
privateer,  Palmer,  Sept.  5,  1727.  Signed,  Ar. 
Middleton.  Copy,  f  p. 

281.  vi.  Instructions  to  Capt.  Montjoy  for  a  cruise  against 
pirates  etc.  Sept.  9,  1727.  Signed,  Ar.  Middleton. 
Copy.  I  p. 

281.  vii.  President  Middleton  to  the  Governor  of  the  Havana. 
Charlestown.  23rd  March,  1727  (1728).  I  send  you 
these  by  a  flagg  of  truce  to  inform  your  Excellency 
that  in  Aug.  and  Sept.  the  coasts  of  this  Province  were 
mightily  infested  and  our  vessels  taken  away  almost 
from  our  very  harbours  etc.  I  therefore  fitted  out  an 
armed  sloop  against  pirates,  which  came  up  with  the 
Francis  and  Rebecca  of  London  bound  from  Virginia 


136  COLONIAL   PAPERS. 

1728. 

with  tobacco,  but  taken  on  that  coast  by  Don  Antoneo 
Costaneo  Jove,  in  the  sloop  Antoneo  fitted  out  from 
the  Havana  with  your  Excellency's  Commission  etc. 
Returns  the  crew  that  had  been  put  on  board  to  carry 
her  in  to  Havana,  and  requests  him  to  call  the  aggressor 
to  account  etc.  By  private  letters  we  are  assured  that 
the  Treaty  between  the  two  Crowns  is  at  last  signed, 
etc.  Signed,  Ar.  Middleton.  Copy.  l£  pp. 

281.  viii.  Don  Dionisio  Martinez  de  la  Viga,  Governor  of  the 
Havana,  to  President  Middleton.  Havana.  25th 
May,  1728.  Replies  with  compliments  to  preceding. 
Continues  /—The  sailing  from  this  port  of  some  vessels 
with  letters  of  marque  could  not  be  unexpected, 
considering  the  hostilities  committed  on  these  coasts 
by  the  squadron  of  Vice  Admiral  Hosier  ever  since  the 
beginning  of  April  of  the  foregoing  year,  as  well  as 
those  of  a  sloop  fitted  out  from  Jamaica  which  cruized 
off  the  Cape  of  San  Antonio  making  prizes  of  several 
Spanish  vessels  etc.  and  if  this  be  permitted  to  be  done 
by  the  meanest  of  H.M.  subjects  being  in  perfect 
peace,  as  yr.  Honr.  supposes,  (without  entering  into 
other  proceedings  which  has  been  practised  in  these 
seas,)  etc.,  your  Honour  can  have  no  just  cause  to 
disapprove  our  true  motives  of  resentment  of  such 
proceedings  etc.  Explains  that  he  detained  the  vessel 
sent  to  him  till  news  of  the  signing  of  the  Treaty  was 
confirmed,  and  now  sends  her  back  with  all  the 
prisoners  that  are  there,  etc.  Signed,  Don  Dionisio 
Marz.  de  lauizod.  Spanish.  Copy.  I%pp. 

281.  ix.  English  translation  of  preceding.  l%pp. 

281.  x.  Same  to  Same.  Havana.  3rd  June,  1728.  The  sloop 
has  been  detained  twice  owing  to  advices  from  the  fort 
of  Apalache  of  its  being  besieged  by  the  Indians  and 
English  of  your  Government.  Good  motives  and 
reasons  sufficient  to  detain  her  till  that  affair  was 
settled,  etc.  Has  decided  however  to  send  back  the  pris- 
oners etc.  "  promising  myself  that  yr.  Honr.  will  give 
the  necessary  orders  for  the  said  Indians  to  retire, 
supposing  that  motion  did  not  directly  proceed  from 
you  "  etc.  Signed,  Don  Diosio  de  lauizd.  Spanish. 
Copy.  I  p. 

281.  xi.  English  Translation  of  preceding,    f  p. 

281.  xii.  (a)  \?Col.  Parris]  to  Wargent  Nicholson,  Factor  to 
the  Royal  Assiento  Company  in  the  Havana.  Charles 
Town,  March  27,  1728.  Describes  outrages  committed 
on  the  frontier  plantations  by  Yamasee  Indians 
encouraged  by  the  Governor  of  St.  Augustine.  Con- 
tinues : — Then  the  Governor  of  St.  Augustine  sent  our 
Govr.  a  very  impudent  sawcey  letter,  with  a  message 


AMERICA  AND   WEST   INDIES.  13? 

1728. 

by  the  prisoners  to  know  if  he  was  asleep,  that  he 
suffer'd  his  frontier  plantations  to  be  cut  off  etc.  I  was 
in  company  writh  the  Govr.  when  this  message  was 
deliver'd  him,  on  which  he  smiled,  and  gave  orders 
immediately  to  Col.  Palmer  to  raise  100  white  men  and 
100  Indians  etc.  v.  covering  letter.  Continues :—  There 
was  not  a  man  killed  on  our  side,  so  that  we  have  now 
ballanced  accounts  with  them,  and  they  never  will 
come  near  us  more.  Palmer  had  positive  orders  not  to 
meddle  with  or  hurt  one  Spaniard  etc. 

281.  xii.  (b)  W.  Nicholson  to  Col.  Parris.  Havana.  May  14, 
1728.  I  was  glad  to  see  a  narrative  of  your  proceedings 
at  St.  Augustine,  which  was  much  multiplied  here,  etc. 
The  Governor  of  St.  Augustine  is  privately  condemned 
as  the  agressor  by  all  the  impartial  officers  here,  and  the 
Franciscan  Fryers  have  been  a  long  time  expecting 
such  reward  to  the  provocations  which  they  have  some 
of  them  been  eye-witnesses  to  etc.  Signed,  VVargent 
Nicholson. 

281.  xii.  (c)  Col.  Parris  to  \?  President  Middleton].  Charles 
Town,  1st  June,  1728.  Encloses  above  letter  (xii.  a) 
which  has  proved  of  good  effect  etc.  Before  it  arrived, 
the  Governor  of  St.  Augustine  had  advised  the  Gover- 
nor of  Havannah  that  we  had  invaded  him  with  8000 
men,  and  how  manfully  he  had  defended  himself  etc. 
The  Factor  laid  my  letter  before  the  Governor  and 
Council.  The  Governor  made  answer  it  was  a  just 
reward  for  the  provocation  the  Govr.  of  St.  Augustine 
has  given  us  etc.  Signed,  Alexander  Parris.  The  whole 
2pp.  Copies. 

281.  xiii.  Copy  of  95th  Article  of  H.M.  Instructions  to  the 
Governor  of  S.  Carolina,  Sept.  20, 1720.  \p. 

281.  xiv.  Muster-roll  of  officers  and  men  (100)  on  the  Exped- 
ition against  the  Yamasees  under  Col.  John  Palmer. 
1st  May,  1728.  Signed,  William  Peter,  Capt.,  John 
Hunt,  Capt.,  A.  Parris,  Commissary.  Copy.  2  pp. 

281.  xv.  List  of  preceding  papers.  1  p.  [C.O.  5,  387.  Nos. 
81,  81.  i— xv.] 

June  14.  282.  Memorial  of  loss  and  damage  (£1400)  sustained  by 
William  Brooker  of  New  England,  commander  and  part  owner  of 
the  Faro  merchant,  seized  by  the  Spaniards  at  Bilboa. 
Deposition,  signed,  Wm.  Brooker.  Endorsed,  Reed.  15th, 
Read  19th  June,  1728.  1  p.  [C.O.  388,  27.  No.  27.] 

June  18.  283.  Copy  of  Lt.  Governor  Pitt's  Instructions.  [C.O.  5,  193. 
//.  605—702.] 


138 


COLONIAL   PAPERS. 


1728. 
June  18. 

London. 


June  18. 

London. 


284.  Memorial  of  loss  and  damage  (£1500)  sustained  by  the 
capture  of  the  Adventure,  Charles  Devon,  commander,  taken  by 
a  Spanish  man  of  war  in  March,   1727,   in  her  voyage  from 
Salt  Tertudos  to  Piscataqua,  N.E.,  fully  laden  with  salt.  Signed, 
Robt.  Willimott.    Endorsed,  Reed.  Read  20th  June,  1728.    1  p. 
[C.O.  388,  27.  No.  32.] 

285.  Memorial  and  proposal  of  Thomas  Coram  of  London, 
Gent,  for  settling  the  waste  lands  between  the  River  St.  Croix, 
the  boundary  of  Nova  Scotia  and  the  River  Kennebec,   the 
boundary  of  Maine,  N.E.  Cf.  Cal.  C.S.P.  1713,  14  etc.    Describes 
this  tract,  150  miles  in  breadth,  its  history,  and  the  claim  of  the 
Massachusetts  Bay  to  it.    Continues  : — When  their  Charter  was 
restored  under  William  and  Mary,  and  that  grant  was  ready  to 
pass  the  scales  (exclusive  of  the  foresaid  tract  which  was  not  so 
much  as  mentioned  in  their  petition  for  the  restoration  of  their 
priviledges  in  the  said  Charter),   their  Agents  vizt.   Increase 
Mather,  a  teacher  of  one  of  their  Congregations,  Elisha  Cooke  and 
Urian  Oakes,  Phisicians,  and  —  Wiswell  a  plebean,  all  4  cunning 
artfull  men,  grasping  at  vaster  territories,  with  an  eye  to  the 
foresaid  noble  tract  of  country,   untruly  alleidges  by  petition 
that  the  Massachusetts  had  taken  Nova  Scotia  from  the  French 
(whereas  in  truth  it  remained  in  the  hands  of  the  French)  etc., 
and  therefore  prayed  that  Nova  Scotia,  New  Hampshire  etc. 
might  be  annexed  to  the  Massachusetts  Bay  both  as  to  soyle 
and    government,     least     their    settleing     Nova    Scotia    with 
English  families  might  be  retarded ;   By  which  fals  allegation 
and  pretence  they  got  comprized  in    that    grant  Nova  Scotia 
and  all  the  land  between  it  and  the  province  of  Main,  within 
which    limits     is    the    said    tract    of    country,    but    with    a 
reservation  that    they    should   not    grant    any   lands   therein. 
And  thus  they  once  had  a  title  to  the  Government  (but  not 
the  soyle)  of  the  land  in  the  said  tract,  tho'  unfairly  obtain' d 
etc.     Instead  of  settling  Nova  Scotia  with  the  English  families 
as  they  had  pretended,  they  only  rebuilt  the  demolished  fort  at 
Pemaquid  in  1692,  for  a  shew  of  their  government  over  the  said 
tract  of  country,  which  was  all  they  ever  did  therein,  where  they 
never  settled  any  families  to  inhabit ;  they  only  left  a  few  of  their 
own  men,  raw  undisciplined  fellows  to  t>e  as  soldiers  in  the  said 
fort,  in  which  they  remained  in  a  naked  and  starving  condition, 
and  being  under  the  command  of  a  very  ignorant  and  worthless 
person  named  John  Chubb  Governor  of  the  same,  they  in  Sept. 
1696,  unworthily  delivered  up  the  said  fort  and  country   upon 
articles,  without  the  least  resistance  and  surrendered  themselves 
prisoners  to  two  French  letter  of  mart  ships  that  came  there  and 
demanded  it  for  the  French  King,  demolished  the  fort,  and 
according  to  the  said  Articles,  they  carryed  off  from  thence  those 
few  New  Englanders  who  were  in  it,  and  were  all  the  English  in 
that  whole  tract  of  country,  and  left  not  so  much  as  any  one 


AMERICA   AND   WEST   INDIES.  139 

1728. 

living  English  subject  in  any  part  of  the  said  land  and  ilands 
between  R.  St.  Croix  and  R.  Kennebeck.  Upon  this  easy  con- 
quest of  the  aforesaid  tract,  the  French  King  commited  the 
Government  thereof  to  his  Governor  of  Nova  Scotia,  and  it 
remained  to  the  French  at  and  after  the  Peace  of  Reswick. 
In  1698  the  French  built  a  church  on  their  said  new  conquest  at 
the  very  River  Kennebeck  for  a  standing  testimony  of  their 
right  to  and  possession  of  the  said  tract  etc.  Refers  to  B.  of  T. 
papers,  e.g.  Lord  Bellomont's  letter,  1st  July,  1700,  v.  C.S.P. 
No.  641.  Continues : — After  the  receipt  of  said  letter,  the 
Governor  of  New  England  had  orders  from  Court  to  press  the 
General  Assembly  to  repossess  themselves  of  the  said  tract  of 
country,  rebuild  the  fort  and  settle  families  thereon,  but  they 
would  have  no  regard  to  the  strongest  instances,  etc.,  alleidging 
(1703)  that  should  they  put  their  Province  to  the  expense  of 
regaining  the  said  tract  etc.,  the  land  would  still  be  the  Queen's, 
H.M.  might  give  it  to  whome  she  pleased  etc. ;  and  they  affected 
to  apprehend  from  the  advices  given  them  by  Sir  Henry  Ashurst 
their  Agent  here,  that  the  Queen  had  a  designe  to  give  the  said 
tract  to  Col.  Dungan  (Lord  Limerick)  for  his  settling  the  same 
with  his  country  folks,  Roman  Catholicks  from  Irland,  for  which 
reasons  they  unianemously  persisted  in  their  resolution  etc. 
Which  willfull  neglect  and  obstinate  resolutions  etc.  was  the  bet- 
ter known  to  your  Memorialist  at  that  time,  not  only  from  his 
then  living  at  Boston  and  his  constant  observations  with  con- 
cerne  etc.,  judging  that  large  and  noble  tract  may  be  easily  made 
greatly  beneficial  to  the  Crown,  beside  affording  constant 
supply s  of  naval  stores  of  every  kind  etc.,  but  also  from  his  near 
neighbour  and  intimate  acquaintance  Dr.  Urian  Oakes,  then 
Speaker,  by  whom  he  was  well  informed  of  everything  transacted 
in  that  House  relating  to  the  said  tract  of  country  which  contin- 
ued to  remaine  to  the  French,  who  having  their  hands  full  in 
Queen  Ann's  warr,  forbore  further^settling  the  same,  whereby  it 
has  lain  wast  and  uninhabited  (except  by  a  few  Indians)  ever 
since.  And  was  recovered  to  the  Crown  by  Genii.  Nicholson  etc. 
upon  Articles,  1710,  which  expressly  included  all  the  land  from 
Cape  Gaspee  to  the  River  Kennebeck,  which  til  then  was  in 
actual  possession  of  the  French  King,  and  by  him  yealded  to 
the  Crowne  of  Great  Britain  by  the  Treaty  of  Utrecht.  Not- 
withstanding the  Massachusetts'  wilfull  neglect  of,  and  their 
basely  giving  up  to  the  French  the  said  noble  tract  etc.  ;  yet 
hating  that  any  settlement  should  be  made  thereon  tho'  with  the 
greatest  probabilety  of  future  benefit  to  the  Crowne  etc.,  unless 
to  be  under  their  own  Goverment  (a  thing  they  have  always 
been  greedylie  grasping  at),  they  continually  made  most  unreas- 
onable opposition  aganst  the  Crownes  intrest  many  years  in  the 
latter  part  of  Queen  Ann's  reigne  and  the  greatest  part  of  the 
reigne  of  His  late  Majesty  etc.,  to  prevent  your  Memorialist  and 
his  associates  from  obtaining  permition  and  encouragement  from 


140  COLONIAL   PAPERS. 

1728. 

ye  Crown  to  plant  an  elegant  Colony  on  the  said  tract  etc.  under 
H.M.  right  and  Government,  whilst  he  and  his  associates  for 
several  years  together  used  their  utmost  endeavours  for 
obtaining  the  same  ;  and  for  proving  those  lands  to  be  absolutly 
in  the  right  of  the  Crowne,  against  the  unjust  claims  and  pre- 
tensions of  those  violent  and  obstinate  opposers  ;  which  was 
done  with  great  fateigue  and  expence  to  your  Memorialist. 
And  in  case  the  said  noble  tract  of  country  in  the  said  Charter 
had  been  fairly  obtained  (as  it  was  not)  it  is  conceived  that  the 
Massachusetts  so  giving  it  up,  abridges  at  least  so  much  of  their 
Charter.  And  like  to  this  was  the  case  of  Lord  Baltemore 
concerning  part  of  his  Province  of  Maryland  laying  on  Delaware 
Bay,  which  he  abandoned  to  the  Dutch,  and  the  same  being 
afterward  reconquered  by  the  Crowne  was  thereupon  granted 
(de  novo)  to  James  Duke  of  York  etc.  By  these  facts  it  may 
plainly  appear  etc.  that  the  foresaid  tract  etc.  is  together  with 
Nova  Scotia  entirly  in  the  Crowne,  and  may  be  disposed  of  as  the 
King  in  his  great  wisdome  may  think  fit  etc.  Wherefore,  etc., 
if  the  King  shall  judge  it  for  H.M.  service  to  have  the  said  unin- 
habited tract  settled  with  inhabitants,  for  the  better  producing 
more  certain,  future  ample  supplys  of  hemp  and  other  naval 
stores,  without  further  dependancy  on  precarious  supplys  from 
foreigners  etc.,  there  are  yet  a  good  number  of  those  usefull 
men  who  took  some  share  in  the  great  travel  and  fateigue  your 
Memorialist  underwent  many  years  in  the  two  last  reignes  to 
obtaine  liberty  and  encouragement  to  settle  a  Colony  on  the 
said  tract  etc.,  still  remaining  very  desirous  of  the  King's  favour 
to  grant  a  settlement  for  them  and  their  families  on  the  same, 
under  H.M.  civil  Government  to  be  erected  there  ;  and  to  pay 
a  reasonable  quitt-rent  in  hemp  to  the  Crowne  ;  And  as  many  of 
those  men  have  been  experienced  in  military  service,  they  would 
by  their  building  small  forts  at  first  with  wood  and  earth,  be 
capable  to  defend  themselves  and  protect  the  country  without 
further  expence  to  the  Crowne  for  sending  soldiers  thither. 
And  when  a  proper  settlement  shall  be  once  begun  by  such 
vetterns,  suiteble  inhabitants  that  occation,  under  H.M.  civil 
Government,  many  other  usefull  people,  foreigne  Protestants, 
as  well  as  Britons,  would  soon  settle  themselves  in  a  regular  and 
safe  manner  at  their  own  expence  on  the  encouragement  of 
having  a  suiteble  portion  of  the  said  land  to  be  (by  some  person 
or  persons  properly  appointed)  thereon  granted  to  them  and  their 
posterity,  paying  a  quit-rent  as  aforesaid.  And  as  there  will 
continually  be  great  numbers  of  future  convicts  condemned  in 
Great  Britain  and  Irland  to  serve  a  term  of  years  in  H.M. 
Plantations  ;  and  to  be  transported  thither  at  the  Crown's 
expence  as  they  are  now  transported  ;  they  cannot  be  sent  to 
any  other  part  so  advantageous  to  the  Crowne,  as  to  employ  them 
under  strict  and  prudent  management  for  the  service  of  H.M. 
in  clearing  and  cultivating  the  said  wast  and  derelict  land  for 


AMERICA  AND   WEST  INDIES.  141 

1728. 

the  compleat  furnishing  in  due  time  ;  constant  and  full  supplys 
of  hemp  and  masts  from  thence  for  the  Navy  ;  each  convict  to 
have  after  the  expiration  of  their  respective  services  on  the  said 
land,  a  small  portion  thereof  granted  for  them  and  their  post- 
erity to  settle  and  inhabit  under  the  like  conditions  with  others 
of  raising  hemp  and  paying  quit  rent  in  the  same  to  H.M.  for 
for  the  use  of  the  Navy.  There  are  also  many  others,  able  persons 
of  both  sexes,  who  live  in  continual  danger  of  being  apprehended 
for  criminal  practices  which  by  the  faults  of  their  parents  or 
otherwise,  they  are  constantly  repeating,  which  renders  them  a 
nuisance  and  a  pest  to  the  publick,  especially  in  and  about  the 
Cittys  of  London  and  Westminster,  and  they  would  gladly  be 
rescued  from  their  necessity  of  commiting  those  crimes,  and  the 
evil  consequences  thereof,  by  volentary  engaigeing  themselves 
to  serve  H.M.  a  term  of  years  in  the  said  tract  of  country 
etc.,  where  they  might  by  right  management,  be  encourag'd  and 
renderd  very  serviceeble,  if  any  proper  persons  were  appointed 
to  receive  and  transport  them  accordingly.  Many  such  offensive 
subjects  the  French  usually  send  to  inhabit  in  their  Plantations, 
tho'  with  this  differance  ;  of  forcing  them,  insteed  of  accepting 
them  as  volunteers  ;  for  in  1718,  your  memorialist  being  then  in 
Paris,  above  800  able-bodied  beggars,  ballad-singers  and  other 
vagabonds  were  seazed  in  one  day  in  the  streets  there,  and  sent 
away  to  Messesipi  etc.  Proposes  that  one  of  H.M.  largest  store- 
ships  should  be  detailed  to  transport  emigrants  and  2  small 
sloops  to  stay  there.  The  storeship  on  its  second  homeward 
voyage  to  be  laden  with  masts  for  the  Navy  etc.  And  forasmuch 
as  such  a  usefull  undertaking  will  require  absolutely  to  have  some 
person  of  known  integrety  and  experience  in  those  parts  to  begin 
the  same,  offers  himself  in  that  capacity,  etc.  Signed,  Thomas 
Coram.  Endorsed,  Reed.,  Read  19th  June,  1728.  12  pp. 
[C.O.  217,  5.  ff.  78—83v.,  84u.] 

June  18.  286.  H.M.  Additional  Instructions  to  Governors  Burnett  and 
Richmond.  Montgomery  and  to  the  Governor  and  Company  of  Rhode 
Island  and  of  Connecticut.  Whereas  We  have  been  graciously 
pleased  to  constitute  and  appoint  a  Surveyor  General  of  all  Our 
woods  in  North  America  with  proper  Deputys  under  him  in 
order  the  better  to  secure  and  preserve  for  the  use  of  Our  Royal 
Navy  such  trees  as  shall  be  found  proper  for  that  service,  etc. 
you  are  to  be  aiding  and  assisting  them  and  give  orders  to  all 
Officers  civil  and  military  to  be  aiding  and  assisting  them  in 
preventing  the  destruction  of  Our  woods,  and  in  punishing  such 
as  shall  be  found  offending  therein.  Signed,  G.  R.  [C.O.  324, 
36.  pp.  73,  74.] 

June  18.  287.  H.M.  Additional  Instruction  to  Governors  of  Planta- 
tions, to  the  Governor  and  Company  of  Rhode  Island  and 
Connecticut,  to  Springet  Penn  and  Hannah  Penn,  Proprietors 


142 


COLONIAL   PAPERS. 


1728. 


June  20. 

Whitehall. 


June  20. 

Whitehall. 


and  Governor  of  Pennsylvania  and  to  Charles  Lord  Baltemore, 
Proprietor  and  Governor  of  Maryland  and  to  the  Lords  Pro- 
prietors of  North  Carolina.  In  all  prayers,  litanies  and  collects 
for  the  Royal  Family  to  be  used  under  your  Government  instead 
of  the  words  [H.R.H.  the  Prince  of  Wales  etc.]  are  to  be  inserted 
[Our  gracious  Queen  Caroline,  the  Royal  issue  etc.].  Enclosed, 
Order  of  Council  15th  June,  1727  to  that  effect.  Signed,  G.  R. 
[C.O.  324,  36.  pp.  75—80.] 

288.  Council  of  Trade  and  Plantations  to  the  King.     Repre- 
sentation  upon   petition  of  Francis  Whitworth  (v.  12th  June). 
Mr.  Whitworth  informed  us  he  has  no  salary  for  executing  the 
office  of  Secretary  to  Barbados,  and  that  the  profits  accruing  to 
him  from  his  office,  do  only  arise  from  such  reasonable  fees,  as 
have  for  many  years  past,  been  in  ye  said  Office.   We  therefore 
humbly   propose,    that    his    account   be   transmitted   to    your 
Majesty's  Governor,  and  that  he,  with  the  Council,  do  examine 
and  settle  the  same,  and  that  the  paymt.  of  what  shall  be  found 
due  upon  propper  vouchers,  according  to  the  usual,  and  accus- 
tomed fees  given  upon  the  like  occasion,  be  earnestly  recom- 
mended to  the  Assembly  for  immediate  payment,  and  that  the 
said  Assembly,  do  for  the  future,  take  care  to  pay  what  shall 
become  due  to  the   Secretary  for  such    services,    as  shall    be 
performed  by  him  or  his  Deputy  for  the  public.    [C.O.  29,  15. 
pp.  23,  24.] 

289.  Same  to  the  Governor  of  Connecticut.     Acknowledge 
letter  of  18th  Sept.,    1727.      Continue : — H.M.     having    been 
graciously  pleased  to  constitute  us  his  Commissioners  for  Trade 
and  Plantations  etc.,  we  take  this  opportunity  to  acquaint  you 
that  it  is  H.M.  pleasure  and  express  command,  that  the  Governors 
of  all  his  foreign  Plantations  do  from  time  to  time  give  unto  us 
frequent  and  full  information  of  the  state  and  condition  of  their 
respective  Governments  and  Plantations,  as  well  with  regard  to 
the  administration    of   the    Government    and    justice  in  those 
places,  as  in  relation  to  the  commerce  thereof  :   and  more  particu- 
larly that  the  said  Governors  transmit  unto  us  yearly  accounts 
of  their  said  administration  by  way  of  Journal,  together  with  the 
Acts  of  Assemblies  ;   all  which  things  you  are  therefore  accord- 
ingly  to   observe   in   relation   to   the   Colony   of  Connecticut. 
Particularly   we   desire   you   to   inform   us,    What   number   of 
inhabitants  there  are  ?    What  of  freemen,  and  what  of  servants, 
white  and  black  ?    To  what  degree  are  those  numbers  increased 
or  decreased  within  five  years  last  past  ?     What  is  the  whole 
number  of  the  Militia  ?   What  commodities  are  exported  to  this 
Kingdom  ?      What    trade  is  there,   either  by  exportation   or 
importation  with  any  other  place  ?     And  from  whence  is  that 
Colony  now  furnished  with  supplies  (particularly  of  any  manu- 
factures) that  it  was  wont  to  be  furnished  withall  from  Great 


AMERICA  AND   WEST  INDIES. 


143 


1728. 

Britain  ?  How,  and  in  what  particulars  is  the  trade  of  that 
Province  increas'd  or  decay'd  of  late  years  ;  and  what  hath  been 
the  reason  ?  What  are  the  present  methods  used  to  prevent 
illegal  trade  ?  And  what  further  methods  do  you  think 
adviseable  ?  What  number  of  ships  or  other  vessels  are  there 
belonging  to  that  Colony  ?  And  what  number  of  seafaring  men  ? 
What  number  and  what  sorts  of  those  vessels  have  been  built 
there  ?  What  manufactures  are  settled  in  that  Colony  of  any 
sort  whatsoever  ?  To  all  which  inquiries,  we  also  further  desire 
you  to  add  whatever  else  you  may  in  your  own  prudence  think 
conducive  to  H.M.  service,  to  the  interest  of  this  Kingdom,  and 
to  the  advantage  of  that  particular  Colony.  We  take  this 
opportunity  to  remind  you  of  sending  over  a  compleat  collection 
of  the  laws,  which  has  been  so  often  promis'd  some  years  ago, 
by  several  Governors,  upon  letters  writ  them  from  the  Secretary 
of  this  Board  for  that  purpose.  [C.O.  5,  1294.  pp.  19 — 22.] 

Similar  letters,  mutatis  mutandis  and  omitting  opening 
sentences,  sent  20th  June  and  duplicates  in  July,  1731,  to  the 
Governor  of  Rhode  Island  and  Deputy  Governor  of  Maryland. 
[C.O.  5,  1294.  p.  22.] 

June  20.  290.  Council  of  Trade  and  Plantations  to  Governor  Mont- 
wintehaii.  gomerie.  Acknowledge  letter  of  6th  May  and  congratulate  him 
upon  his  safe  arrival.  Continue  : — We  don't  doubt  but  that 
by  your  prudent  administration  all  differences  will  be  reconcil'd, 
and  you  may  depend  upon  it,  that  nothing  shall  be  wanting  on 
our  part,  towards  making  your  administration  easy.  All  that 
we  shall  trouble  you  with  at  present,  is,  to  desire  that  in  your 
future  correspondence  with  us,  all  letters  or  other  papers  may  be 
sent  directly  hither  under  cover  to  the  Board,  and  that  you  take 
care  to  mention  in  every  letter  the  ship  by  which  your  proceeding 
letter  was  sent.  [C.O.  5, 1125.  p.  118.] 

June  28.         291 .     Council   of  Trade   and   Plantations   to   the   Duke   of 
\\hitehaii.     Newcastle,     In  reply  to  9th  May,  enclose  following  to  be  laid 
before  H.M.  Autograph  signatures.  1  p.  Enclosed, 

291.  i.  Same  to  the  King.  Representation  upon  H.M.  possessions 
in  America  disputed  by  the  King  of  Spain  and  injuries 
inflicted  by  the  Spaniards  on  H.M.  subjects,  etc.  (v. 
9th  May).  Carolina  was  formerly  known  by  the  names 
of  Florida  and  Carolana  Florida  ;  This  Province  was 
first  discovered  by  Sir  Sebastian  Cabot  in  1497,  who 
by  a  Commsision  from  and  at  the  expence  of  K.  Henry 
VII,  discovered  all  the  coast  of  America  from  the 
56th  to  28th  degrees  of  Northern  Latitude,  about  30 
years  before  any  other  Europeans  had  visited  the 
Northern  Continent  of  America :  And  it  does  not 
appear  that  ever  the  Spaniards  attempted  any  discov- 
ery of  that  part  of  America  till  1527,  under  Pamphilio 


144  COLONIAL   PAPERS. 

1728. 


Narvaez,  nor  any  conquest  till  1539,  when  Ferdinando 
Soto  landed  upon  Florida  from  the  Havana,  and 
wandering  over  a  great  part  of  that  country  in  search 
of  mines  which  he  could  not  find,  died  of  grief  in  May 
1542,  and  such  of  his  men  as  were  left  alive,  returned 
again  to  the  Havana,  without  making  any  settlement 
on  that  Continent.  The  first  grants  we  find,  of  this 
country  by  your  Majesty's  Royal  Predecessors  was  by 
King  Charles  I  in  the  5th  year  of  his  reign  to  Sir 
Robert  Heath,  His  Attorney  General ;  In  that  patent 
it  is  called  Carolana  Florida,  and  the  boundaries 
fix'd  for  it,  are  from  the  River  Matheo,  in  the  30th 
degree,  to  the  River  Passa  Magna  in  the  36th  degree 
of  Northern  Latitude.  We  have  good  reason  to  beleive 
that  possession  of  this  country  was  taken  under  the  said 
patent,  and  large  sums  of  mony  expended  by  the 
Proprietor  and  those  claiming  under  him,  in  making 
settlements  there  ;  but  whether  this  grant  was  after- 
wards surrendered,  or  whether  the  same  became  vacant 
and  obsolete  by  non  user  or  otherwise,  King  Charles  II 
made  two  other  grants  of  the  same  country,  with  some 
small  difference  in  the  boundaries,  to  the  Lords 
Proprietors  of  Carolina.  The  last  of  these  grants  bears 
date  the  30th  day  of  June  in  the  17th  year  of  King 
Charles  the  Second's  Reign,  and  gives  to  the  Lords 
Proprietors  all  that  part  of  North  America  which  lyes 
between  the  36th  and  29th  degree  of  Northern  Latitude. 
Fort  King  George  upon  the  River  Alatamaha,  now 
complained  of  by  the  Spaniards,  lyes  within  the  bounds 
of  both  the  abovementioned  grants  to  Sir  R.  Heath 
and  to  the  Lords  Proprietors,  who  have  made  and 
continued  many  flourishing  settlements  in  Carolina  ; 
whereas  it  is  notoriously  known  that  the  Spaniards 
have  never  maintain'd  or  kept  possession  of  any  in 
those  parts  except  St.  Augustine  ;  And  your  Majesty 
might  with  as  much  reason  contest  their  title  to  that 
Settlement  as  they  dispute  your  Majty's.  right  to 
Fort  King  George,  which  was  neither  settled  by  the 
Spaniards,  nor  any  other  European  Nation,  when  your 
Majesty's  troops  first  took  possession  of  that  place 
whereon  that  fort  was  afterwards  erected.  This  is  not 
the  first  time  that  disputes  have  arisen  between  the 
Crowns  of  Great  Britain  and  Spain,  concerning  their 
respective  Dominions  in  America  ;  But  to  prevent  all 
contests  of  this  sort  in  the  times  to  come,  a  Treaty  was 
concluded  at  Madrid  in  1670,  by  the  7th  Article  of 
which  Treaty  it  was  expressly  agreed  between  the  then 
Kings  of  Spain  and  Great  Britain,  that  the  King  of 
Great  Britain  and  his  heirs  should  hold  and  enjoy  for 


AMERICA   AND   WEST   INDIES.  145 

1728. 

ever  all  those  lands  and  places  in  any  part  of  America 
which  the  said  King  of  Great  Britain  or  his  subjects 
then  held  or  possessed,  which  Treaty  is  subsequent  to 
the  two  grants  to  Sir  Robert  Heath  and  to  the  Lords 
Proprietors  of  Carolina,  and  to  the  making  of  several 
Settlements  under  both  the  said  patents.  It  is  therefore 
matter  of  surprize  that  the  Spaniards  should  now 
pretend  a  title  to  a  part  of  a  Province  which  they  have 
so  long  ago  given  up  by  the  said  Treaty,  which  hath 
been  confirm'd  by  many  subsequent  Treatys  between 
the  two  Crowns. 

The  Bahama  Islands,  the  principal  of  which  is 
Providence,  were  granted  by  King  Charles  I  in  the 
5th  year  of  his  reign  to  the  Earls  of  Warwick  Holland 
and  others,  in  consideration  of  their  having  some 
years  before  discover'd  and  settled  the  said  Islands. 
After  the  restoration  of  King  Charles  II,  these  Islands 
not  having  from  their  first  discovery  been  possessed 
by  any  but  the  English,  were  granted  in  1670,  by  K. 
Charles  II,  to  the  Duke  of  Albermarle  and  others, 
and  have  been  enjoyed  by  them  and  their  successors 
until  1703,  when  the  French  and  Spaniards  invaded  and 
plundered  the  same  ;  since  which  time  till  1717,  the 
Bahamas  have  remained  in  the  possession  of  H.M. 
subjects,  but  the  Proprietors  having  neglected  to  protect 
and  assist  the  inhabitants,  his  late  Majesty  resumed 
the  Government  thereof  by  surrender,  and  hath  ever 
since  appointed  Governors  of  the  said  Islands.  And  as 
your  Majesty's  subjects  were  in  possession  of  these 
Islands  before  the  abovementioned  Treaty  of  Madrid, 
your  Majesty's  title  thereto  was  confirm'd,  not  only  by 
that  Treaty  but  by  the  Treaty  of  Utrecht,  and  the 
Quadruple  Alliance  made  between  the  Crowns  of 
Great  Britain  and  Spain  since  that  time.  As  to  the 
settlement  made  by  your  Majesty's  subjects  in  the  Bay 
of  Campeachy,  refer  to  representation  of  25th  Sept. 
1717,  upon  Mr.  Secretary  Methuen's  reference  in 
Nov.  1716.  Continue : — We  have  in  obedience  to 
your  Majesty's  commands,  hereunto  annexed  a  schedule 
of  all  such  losses  as  your  Majesty's  subjects  have 
sustained  from  the  guarda  costa's  and  from  other 
depredations,  injustice  and  violence  of  the  Spaniards, 
so  far  as  the  same  have  come  to  our  knowledge.  Auto- 
graph signatures.  8  pp.  Enclosed, 

291.  ii.  Statement  of  British  title  to  Carolina  and  the  Bahama 
Islands.  Endorsed,  'Copy  sent  to  the  Plenipots.  July 
27th,  1728.  7 1  pp. 

291.  iii.  Schedule  of  losses  sustained  by  British  subjects  in 
their  shipping  and  effects  from  the  Treaty  of  Utrecht 

C.P.XXXVI— 10 


146  COLONIAL   PAPERS. 

1728. 

to  June  20,  1728.  Cases  of  86  named  ships  with  value 
of  cargoes,  and  several  others  not  named.  Aug.  24, 
1720,  Sir  N.  Lawes  complained  that  the  Spaniards 
commit  frequent  depredations  on  Jamaica  from 
Trinidado  in  times  of  peace.  1724,  The  Spaniards 
protect  the  crew  of  the  pirate  Cassandra.  1718,  The 
Spaniards  raided  Crab  Island.  1717,  The  Spaniards 
forced  into  their  service  several  English  ships  in  Spain  for 
transport,  some  of  which  were  never  released,  and  others 
not  paid  the  freight  contracted  for.  3  large  double  pp. 

291.  iv.  Copy  of  Council  of  Trade  to  the  King,  25th  Sept., 
1717,  v.  C.S.P.  under  date. 

291.  v.  Copy  of  Council  of  Trade  to  the  Lords  Justices,  llth 
Sept.,  1719.  v.  C.S.P.  under  date.  [C.O.  5,  383.  Nos. 
32,  32.  i — v ;  and  (duplicate  of  Wo.  i,  enclosed,  sent  by 
Mr.  Delafaye  to  Mr.  Walpole)  33 ;  and  389,  28.  pp. 
346—361.] 

June  21.  292.  Memorial  of  John  Hyde  and  other  lessees,  in  behalf 
of  themselves  and  the  inhabitants  of  the  Bahama  Islands,  to  the 
Duke  of  Newcastle.  By  letters  of  26th  Aug.  and  12th  Oct.  1722, 
from  their  factor,  Mr.  Skynner,  then  a  prisoner  at  the  Havana, 
they  find  that  the  Spaniards  in  America  claim  the  sole  right  to 
the  Bahama  Islands  and  accordingly  proceed  to  condemn  all 
vessels  with  brazelletto  wood,  which  is  the  product  of  those 
islands  only.  They  likewise  take  and  condemn  all  trading  vessels 
which  they  meet  with  in  those  seas,  altho'  they  have  not  been 
in  any  Spanish  port,  or  traded  with  any  of  the  subjects  of  His 
Catholick  Majesty  :  imprison  and  use  the  men  as  if  they  were 
worse  than  pirates,  as  is  the  case  of  the  said  Skynner  etc.,  who 
observes  that  to  be  an  Englishman  in  Havana  is  enough  to  have 
all  the  ill  treatment  put  upon  him  that  a  Spaniard  is  capable  of 
using.  Represent  the  great  difficulties  they  labour  under  from  the 
frequent  insults,  robberys  and  piracys  committed  by  the  Spani- 
ards on  their  trading  vessels  at  sea  and  also  by  plundering  their 
vessels  in  harbour,  burning  and  distroying  their  vessels  and 
plantations  on  shore,  under  pretence  of  having  commissions  so 
to  do  from  the  Governours  of  Havana,  Baraco,  and  other  parts 
on  Cuba.  Quote  cases  given  in  C.S.P.  1722,  1723,  raids  by  Capt. 
Blanco  etc.  Conclude  :  The  Spaniards  of  Cuba  have  every  summer 
since  the  settlement  of  the  Bahama  Islands  began  disturbed  the 
inhabitants  in  raking  of  salt,  cutting  wood,  taking  whales  and 
scales  for  oyl,  and  other  their  lawfull  employments  on  the  said 
islands,  which  if  not  timely  prevented  and  restitution  made  for 
the  damage  done  to  them  will  make  them  quit  the  islands. 
Pray  that  representations  be  made  to  Spain  so  that  ample 
restitution  be  made  and  that  such  insults  and  robberies  may 
cease  and  H.M.  right  to  the  said  islands  may  be  acknowledged 
etc.  Signed,  John  Hyde.  l^pp.  [C.O.  23, 12.  No.  93.] 


AMERICA  AND   WEST  INDIES.  147 


1728. 

June  24.         293.     Petty  Expences  of  the  Board  of  Trade,  Lady  day  to 
Midsummer  (v.  Journal).  6pp.  [C.O.  388,  79.  Nos.25 — 28.] 

June  25.         294.     Mr.   Walpole  to  the   Duke   of  Newcastle.      Encloses 
Julv  6.      following,  which  "  I  wrote  to  the  Garde  des  Sceaux  in  conse- 
quence of  your  letter  of  16th  May  "  etc.,  to  which  "  I  expect  to 
receive  an  answer  shortly  from  Mor.   de  Chauvelin."     Copy. 
%p.  Enclosed, 

294.  i.  Mr.  Walpole  to  Mor.  de  Chauvelin.    Compiegne.    27th 

June  (N.S.),  1728.  Encloses  copy  of  the  letter  of  the 
Council  of  Trade,  together  with  translation  of  de- 
position of  John  Ridley,  28th  Nov.  1727,  relating  to 
the  settlement  of  some  French  families  on  St.  Vincents. 
Concludes :  As  such  settlements  are  of  the  utmost 
importance,  and  contrary  to  the  agreement  of  1722 
etc.,  the  King  my  Master  is  confident  that  His  Christian 
Majesty  will  repeat  the  orders  [of  the  Regent]  for  the 
said  families  to  evacuate  St.  Vincent,  replace  every- 
thing upon  the  same  footing  as  it  was  before  their 
settlement,  and  not  to  do  anything  which  could  give  the 
least  offence,  or  reason  for  suspicion,  till  this  matter  is 
amicably  settled  according  to  the  rules  of  justice  etc. 
French.  Copy.  2J  pp.  [C.O.  253,  i.  Nos.  35,  35  i.] 

June  25.  295.  Governor  Montgomerie  to  [?  Mr.  Delafaye].  Acknow- 
New  York,  ledges  repeal  of  Act  of  New  York  for  the  easier  partition  of  lands 
etc.  Encloses  Address  from  New  Jersey,  "  which  to  please  them 
I  hope  you  will  order  to  be  printed  in  the  Gazet."  Encloses  Mem- 
orial from  Mr.  Bradley,  whom  you  recommended  to  me  etc. 
Continues  :  You  will  see  by  it  that  he  has  met  with  very  hard 
usage,  and  that  it  is  not  in  my  power  to  redress  him.  The  man 
is  honest  and  well-meaning,  so  I  hope  something  will  be  done 
for  him  from  home.  Coll.  Riggs  is  uneasie  till  I  satisfie  you, 
about  a  letter  he  wrot  to  you  to  receive  his  pay  in  England. 
I  intended  to  have  granted  him  that  favour,  but  finding  that  all 
the  officers  would  make  the  same  demand,  which  would  be  a 
great  loss  to  me,  he  franckly  desisted  from  it,  which  I  take  very 
kindly  etc.  Signed,  J.  Montgomerie.  Endorsed,  R.  Aug.  14  (by 
Mr.  Drummer).  Holograph.  2  pp.  Enclosed, 

295.  i.   Address  of  the   Chief  Justice,   Second  Judge,   High 

Sheriff,  Grand  Jury,  practitioners  of  the  Law  and  Clerk 
of  the  Peace  of  the  Supream  Court,  held  at  Burlington, 
for  the  Western  Division  of  New  Jersey,  to  the  King. 
7th  May,  1728.  Welcome  prospect  of  peace  being 
restored  and  the  power  of  Spain  being  confined  within 
just  limits.  "With  a  warm  rapture  of  thankfulness  " 
acknowledge  H.M.  parental  care,  particularly  in 
sending  Governor  Montgomerie  etc.  Set  out,  N.J. 
Archives,  1st  Ser.  V,  185.  31  signatures,  1  large  p. 


148  COLONIAL   PAPERS. 

1728. 

295.  ii.  Petition  of  Richard  Bradley  to  Governor  Montgomerie. 
New  York,  28th  June,  1728.  Petitioner  cannot  obtain 
payment  of  £800  due  to  him  for  salary  and  fees  as 
Attorney  General,  and  thereby  suffers  great  hardship, 
as  also  by  the  recent  Act  etc.  Petitioner  has  long 
experienced  that  Grand  Juries  will  never  present 
where  any  of  their  relations  and  friends  are  concerned, 
and  most  of  this  new  country  are  related  etc.  Asks  to 
be  allowed  a  salary  of  £150  paid  from  home  etc. 
Signed,  Richd.  Bradley.  3  pp.  [C.O.  5,  1092.  Nos. 
69,  69.  i,  ii.] 

June  27.        296.     Mr.  Popple  to  Lt.  Governor  Armstrong.    Acknowledges 

Whitehall,     letters  of  30th  April  and  17th  Nov.  last.  Refers  to  Representation 

of  31st  May.  The  Board  are  in  hopes  of  receiving  H.M.  directions 

upon  the  peopling  and  settling  of  Nova  Scotia  before  they  finish 

Governor  Philipps'  Instructions  etc.  [C.O.  218,  2.  pp.  79,  80.] 

June  27.  297.  Council  of  Trade  and  Plantations  to  the  Duke  of 
Whitehall.  Newcastle.  Enclose  following  to  be  laid  before  H.M.  Annexed, 
297.  i.  Same  to  the  King.  We  humbly  lay  before  your  Majesty 
draughts  of  General  Instructions  for  Governor  Worsley 
and  of  those  particularly  relating  to  the  Acts  of  Trade 
and  Navigation,  with  some  few  alterations  and  our 
reasons  for  the  same.  We  have  inserted  Samuel 
Berwick  in  the  Council,  he  being  restored  12th  April 
etc.,  and  Mr.  Maxwell  and  Mr.  Allen  being  dead,  we  have 
inserted  in  their  stead  John  Frere  and  Geo.  Lillington 
Esqrs..  they  being  recommended  to  us  as  persons 
every  way  qualified  etc.  Mr.  Worsley  having  complained 
that  the  Assembly  had  assumed  to  themselves  the 
priviledge  of  adjourning  for  what  time,  and  to  what 
place  they  thought  fit,  without  his  consent,  we  have 
inserted  the  21st  Article,  in  order  to  restrain  this 
practice,  that  the  public  business  of  the  Island  may  not 
be  thereby  retarded.  Mr.  Worsley  having  likewise 
complained,  that  the  Assembly  had  assumed  to  them- 
selves, a  power  of  chusing  a  Speaker,  pro  tempore, 
without  presenting  him  to  the  Governor  for  his 
approbation,  we  have  inserted  the  22nd  Article,  for 
restraining  a  practice  so  contrary  to  your  Majesty's 
Royal  prerogative.  The  latter  part  of  Mr.  Worsley's 
28th  Instruction,  contain'd  a  power  from  his  late 
Majesty  to  receive  what  additional  salary  the  Assem- 
bly should  think  fit,  to  settle  upon  him,  under  certain 
restrictions  therein  expressed.  In  consequence  of 
which  the  Assembly  having  passed  an  Act  in  1723, 
and  the  salary  thereby  given  being  continued  to  him, 
until  the  determination  of  his  Government,  we  have 


AMERICA  AND   WEST   INDIES.  149 

1728. 

omitted  the  aforesaid  latter  part  etc.  We  have  made 
no  further  alteration,  than  what  your  Majesty  has 
already  been  pleased  to  approve  in  the  Instructions 
to  Governors  of  other  Plantations  etc. 

297.  ii.  Draught  of  Governor  Worsley's  General  Instructions 
(1—104).  Dated  at  Hampton  Court,  25th  July,  1728, 
v.  preceding.  Article  21  : — Whereas  We  have  been 
informed  that  the  Assemblies  of  Our  Plantations, 
have  of  late  assum'd  to  themselves,  the  power  of 
adjourning  at  pleasure  ;  without  leave  from  Our  Gov- 
ernors first  obtain'd  for  that  purpose,  as  usual,  by 
request ;  which  is  highly  detrimental  to  Our  royal 
prerogative,  and  may  prove  of  prejudice  to  the 
publick  ;  It  is  Our  will  and  pleasure  that  you  signifie 
to  the  General  Assemblies  of  Barbados,  if  occasion 
should  require,  and  that  you  accordingly  insist  upon  it, 
that  they  have  no  right  to  adjourn  themselves,  other- 
wise than  de  die  in  diem,  excepting  Sundays  and 
Holydays,  without  leave  from  you  Our  Governor,  or 
from  Our  Governor  or  Commander  in  Chief  of  the  said 
Island,  for  the  time  being  first  asked  and  obtained. 
Article  22  : — And  whereas  We  have  also  been  informed 
that  the  General  Assembly  of  Barbados  have  of  late 
taken  upon  them  to  appoint  a  Speaker  pro  tempore, 
and  to  proceed  upon  business  without  presenting  him 
to  Our  Governor  for  his  approbation  of  such  choice  ; 
which  is  a  precedent  very  derogatory  to  Our  Royal 
prerogative,  and  may  prove  of  ill  consequence  to  Our 
service,  and  the  good  of  that  Island  ;  It  is  therefore  Our 
will  and  pleasure,  that  you  also  signifie  to  the  General 
Assembly,  that  We  disapprove  of  such  proceedings, 
and  that  for  the  future  they  will  not  be  suffer'd  to 
proceed  upon  business  with  any  Speaker,  but  such 
as  shall  be  first  presented  to,  and  approved  by  you, 
or  the  Commander  in  Chief  of  the  said  Island  for  the 
time  being.  [C.O.  29,  15.  pp.  25—95.] 

June  27.  298.  George  Lillington  to  the  Council  of  Trade  and 
Swansey.  Plantations.  Declines  honour  of  Councillorship,  Barbados, 
owing  to  the  benefit  he  derives  for  the  violent  pains  of  the 
gout  from  residence  the  two  last  winters  at  the  Bath  etc.  Signed, 
George  Lillington.  Endorsed,  Reed.  2nd,  Read  4th  July,  1728. 
Addressed,  To  Alured  Popple  Esq.  etc.  Postmark,  f  p.  [C.O. 
28,  19.  ff.  192,  193i;.] 

June  27.  299.  Council  of  Trade  and  Plantations  to  the  Lords  Com- 
missioners  of  the  Treasury.  Request  payment  of  Office  expences 
and  officers'  salaries  to  Midsummer.  Account  annexed.  [C.O. 
389,  37.  pp.  291,  292.] 


150  COLONIAL   PAPERS. 


1728. 

June  27.  300.  Messrs.  Stirling  and  Watson  to  the  Council  of  Trade 
and  Plantations.  We  are  two  of  the  many  in  good  circumstances, 
who  at  their  own  expence  will  settle  themselfs,  on  the  King's 
lands  and  islands,  now  laying  wast  and  uninhabited,  between 
the  River  Kennebeck  and  St.  Croix,  if  H.M.  shall  pleas  to  place 
our  worthey  friend  Capt.  Thomas  Coram  there  in  such  manner 
as  he  has  proposed  (v.  18th  June)  and  we  shall  each  of  us  carry 
one  thousand  pounds  and  more  of  our  own  with  us  etc.  Signed, 
James  Stirling,  Joseph  Watson.  Endorsed,  Reed.,  Read  27  June, 
1728.  Addressed.  1  p.  [C.O.  217,  5.  ff.  85,  861;.] 

June  29.         301 .     Governor  Hunter  to  the  Lords  Commissioners  of  the 
Jamaica.      Treasury.    Encloses  following.    Signed,  Ro.  Hunter.    Endorsed, 
Reed.  2nd    Oct.,    Read    13th    Nov.,  1728.     Holograph,     f  p. 
Enclosed, 

301.  i.  List  of  enclosed  accounts.     Same  endorsement.     1  p. 
301.  ii.  H.M.  account  of  imposts,  Jamaica,  April  7th — Sept. 

29th,  1725.  2  large  pp. 
301.    iii.    H.M.    account    of   Fortifications,    7th   April— 29th 

Sept.  1725.  Endorsed,  Reed.  2nd  Oct.,  1728.  1  p. 
301.    iv.    H.M.    account    current,    25th    March — 29th   Sept., 

1725.  Endorsed  as  preceding,  l^pp. 

301.  v.  H.M.  account  of  impost,  29th  Sept.,  1725— 25th 
March,  1726.  Same  endorsement.  2  pp. 

301.  vi.  H.M.  account  of  Fortifications,  29th  Sept.,  1725— 25th 
March,  1726.  Same  endorsement.  1  p. 

301.  vii.  H.M.  account  current,  29th  Sept.,  1725— 25th  March, 

1726.  Same  endorsement.   1  p. 

301.  viii.  H.M.  account  of  impost,  25th  March — 29th  Sept., 

1726.  Same  endorsement.  2  pp. 

301.   ix.   H.M.   account  of  Fortifications,  25th  March — 29th 

Sept.  1726.  Same  endorsement.  I  p. 
301.  x.  H.M.  account  current,  25th  March— 29th  Sept.,  1726. 

Same  endorsement.   2|  pp. 
301.  xi.  H.M.  account  of  impost,  29th  Sept.  1726— 25th  March, 

1727.  Same  endorsement.   l£jp. 

301.  xii.  H.M.  account  of  fortifications,  29th  Sept.  1726— 25th 

March,  1727.    Same  endorsement.  1  p. 
301.  xiii.  H.M.  account  current  29th  Sept.  1726 — 25th  March, 

1727.   Same  endorsement.   I  p. 
301.  xiv.  H.M.  account  of  impost,  25th  March — 29th  Sept. 

1727.  Same  endorsement.  I  p. 
301.  xv.  H.M.  account   of   fortifications,  25th   March — 29th 

Sept.  1727.  Same  endorsement.    1  p. 
301.    xvi.    H.M.    account   current,    25th   March — 29th   Sept. 

1727.  Same  endorsement.  2  pp. 
301.  xvii.  H.M.  account  of  impost,  29th  Sept.   1727— 25th 

March,  1728.  Same  endorsement.  1  p. 


AMERICA   AND   WEST   INDIES. 


151 


1728. 


June  29. 

Whitehall. 


June  30. 

Province  of 

New 
Hampshire. 


301.  xviii.  H.M.  account  of  fortifications,  29th  Sept.  1727— 
25th  March,  1728.    Same  endorsement.    1  p. 

301.  xix.  H.M.  account  current,  29th  Sept.,  1727 — 25th  March, 

1728.    Same  endorsement.    2  pp.    [C.O.  137,  17.   ff.  84, 
85v.— S6v.,  87v.— lOlv.,  102t;.— 107.] 

302.  Order  of  Committee  of  Council.    Due  consideration  of 
the  report  of  the  Council  of  Trade  upon  Nova  Scotia  requiring 
more  time  than  is  consistent  with  H.M.  orders  to  Col.  Philips  to 
repair  forthwith  to  his  Government,  he  is  ordered  to  proceed 
thither  without  delay.    The  Council  of  Trade  are  to  prepare  his 
Commission  and  Instructions  to  be  sent  after  him.    [v.  A.P.C. 
III.  p.  152.]     Signed,  Temple  Stanyan.     Endorsed,  Reed.  Read 
3rd  July,  1728.    1  p.  [C.O.  217,  5.  ff.  87,  881;.] 

303.  Lt.  Governor  Wentworth  to  the  Council  of  Trade  and 
Plantations.     I  have  the  pleasure  of  receiveing  your  Lordships 
letter  of  the  28th  Februy.  1727-8,  etc.    I  observe  that  the  affair 
of  the  Kings  woods,  I  have  so  often  given  your  Lordships  the 
treble    about    now  lies  under  consideration,  and  cear  will  be 
taken  to  prevent  the  stroy  that  has  been  formerly  made  thereon, 
and  hope  it  may  be  brot.  in  a  good  meathord,  and  as  I  mentioned 
in  my  letter  of  the  7th  of  August  1727,  that  those  people  that  are 
imploy'd,  by  Mr.  Gulston  the  Controller  for  Masts  have  a  greate 
opertunity  of  makeing  waste  on  the  pine  trees,  and  therein  gave 
my  reasons.  I  would  now  further  most  humbly  give  my  openion, 
that  no  person  may  be  appoined  from  home  as  Servayer  of  H.M. 
woods  or  Deputy  Servayr.  that  is  any  ways  concern'd  in  the  con- 
tract, or  his  agent  or  undertakers  here,  for  that  would  open  a 
wide  dore  for  distroying  the  timber,  the  labourers  and  people 
imploy'd  in  that  servis  are  generally  such  as  are  concern'd  in 
saw  mills  which  are  the  engines  that  distroy  the  pine  timber. 
Your  Lordships  will  please  to  excuse  on  this  head,  its  my  zeale 
for  the  Kings  intrest,  and  my  greate  desier  to  see  these  affairs 
settled  on  a  solid  foundation,  that  puts  me  on  it,  I  wrote  your 
Lordships  of  20th  of  Februy.  last  via  Boston  which  hope  came 
safe,    I    therein    sent    duplicates    of    our   Journalls  etc.  then 
advised  your  Lordships  that  one  of  our  underservayers  had  taken 
a  man  or  two  cutting  or  felling  a  mast  tree  that  had  been  marked 
by  Mr.  Bridger  the  late  Serveyer  I  suppose  eight  or  ten  years 
past,  allso  seized  a  parcill  of  mill  logs,  cutt  this  last  winter. 
Mr.  Armstrong  ye  Deputy  Servayer  went  to  Boston  to  consult 
wth.  ye  Judges  of  Admiralty,  I  cant  hear  that  any  thing  as  yet  is 
don,  if  an  example  be  not  made  of  some  of  these  people  it  will  be 
a  verry  ill  president.  Therefore  I  shall  not  be  backward  in  doeing 
my  duty,  the  Judge  of  the  Admiralty  seems  backward  in  acting 
on  these  affairs,   I  have   severall  times  wrote  him,   on  these 
ocations,    etc.      H.M.    King    George    the    Second    hath    been 
pleased  to  renew  my  Commissn.  for  the  Lewetenancy  of  this 


152  COLONIAL   PAPERS. 

1728. 

his  Province  of  New  Hampshire.  I  shall  do  everything  in 
my  power  to  support  the  honour  and  dignity  of  the  Crown 
and  use  my  best  endeavours  to  cultivate  principles  of  loyalty 
and  obedience  in  ye  people  to  H.M.  At  the  comeing  in  of 
King  George  the  Second  I  called  a  new  Assembly.  There 
happned  to  be  some  few  troblesome  men  made  choice  of, 
which  gave  me  a  good  deal  of  treble,  and  indeed  boar  so  hard 
on  the  Prerogative  of  the  Crown  ;  that  I  thot  it  inconsistant 
with  reason  or  justice  to  continew  them.  The  first  thing  they 
insisted  on  was,  that  the  Court  of  Appeals  to  the  Governour  and 
Councill  was  without  foundation  or  president,  I  shewd.  them 
that  it  was  established  by  ye  Governr.  Councill  and  Assembly 
of  the  Province  and  allow'd  and  confirm'd  by  the  Kings  and 
Queens  of  England,  thirty  eight  or  forty  years  past,  and  in 
the  instructions  to  the  Governrs.  call  it  there  Courts  of  Appeales, 
and  give  there  subjects  liberty  appeal  to  them  for  releife 
from  the  Lower  Courts  to  Governr.  and  Councill,  for  this  and 
such  like  reasons  I  dissolv'd  the  Assembly  and  called  another. 
One  of  the  cheife  actors  was  dropt,  but  the  Speaker,  Mr.  Wear, 
was  elected  the  second  time,  and  againe  chose  by  the  Houss 
Speaker,  when  so  don  they  sent  up  for  my  allowance  thereof, 
upon  which  I  considred,  that  it  was  not  consistant  with  the 
honr.  of  the  Crown,  neither  could  I  expect  to  pass  with  out 
my  conduct  being  called  in  question,  if  I  had  allow'd  him 
to  remaine  Speaker,  since  he  had  behav'd  himselfe  so 
obstinately  in  the  former  Assembly,  so  that  I  disallow'd  of 
Mr.  Wear  being  Speaker,  and  directed  the  Houss  to  proceed 
to  the  choice  of  another  Speaker,  which  they  refused  to  do 
for  ten  dayes,  ocationed  by  Wear's  obstinant  humer,  in  fine 
they  came  into  it  and  made  choice  of  Andrew  Wlggan  Esqr. 
for  there  Speaker,  I  think  an  honest  man,  but  that  affair  made 
a  party  in  the  Houss,  soon  after  with  some  other  votes  they 
sent  up  a  vote  for  emitting  30,000  pounds  paper  bill  of  credit. 
I  treated  them  with  all  calmness  and  let  em  know  that  it  was 
not  in  my  power,  for  that  the  King  had  commanded  me  not 
to  emit  any  more  paper  bills  of  credit  then  the  insident  charges 
of  the  Governt.  cal'd  for,  they  insisted  some  time  thereupon, 
they  thot  I  might  run  the  hazard,  and  break  through  the 
King's  Instructions,  I  assured  them  I  would  not  be  guilty  of 
so  greate  a  breach  of  trust,  for  which  reason  they  voted  me 
for  the  last  years  salery  but  sixty  seven  pounds  sterling,  so 
that  I  must  have  wanted  bread,  had  I  not  of  my  own.  Our 
people  begin  to  coppy  after  the  Massachusets.  I  pray  your 
Lordships  to  consider  my  circumstances,  the  Government 
cant  be  supported  with  that  honr.  as  it  might  (and  ought  to 
be)  when  the  Governt.  depends  on  the  capricious  humers  of 
some  designing  people  for  there  bread.  The  Governours  here- 
tofore, have  insisted  on  the  Generall  Assembly  affixing  a 
sallery,  and  so  have  I  don  many  a  time  but  to  no  purpose, 


AMERICA  AND   WEST  INDIES.  153 

1728. 

and  when  they  do  give  us  anything  its  allwayes  at  the  end  of  the 
Session  and  the  last  thing  they  do,  so  that  we  are  kept  depend- 
ing. This  my  Lords  is  the  true  state  of  the  affair.  I  pray 
your  consideration  thereon  that  I  may  have  some  releife  by 
an  Order  from  H.M.  strongly  worded  etc.  I  have  spent  of  my 
own  estate  near  three  thowsand  pounds  of  this  money,  more 
then  ever  I  reed :  from  the  Governmt.  which  is  verry 
discorraiging,  altho'  the  Governt.  is  small  yet  it  takes  up 
most  of  my  time  in  the  servis,  I  depend  on  your  Lordships 
favour  that  I  may  not  allwayes  be  obleigd  to  live  upon  my 
selfe.  I  observe  what  your  Lordships  are  pleased  to  say  in 
answer  to  that  part  of  my  letter  of  ye  7th  Augt.  that  mentions 
the  want  of  a  paper  credit,  I  hope  I  am  understood  right  when 
I  mention  the  300,000  pounds  more  then  what  was  then  out, 
in  order  to  give  a  new  life  to  trade,  I  intended  the  Massechusets 
Governt.  as  well  as  this  25  or  30,000  more  then  what  we  have 
now  but  would  be  sufficient  for  this  Governt.  which  would 
bring  it  to  about  50,000,  for  we  have  not  above  20,000  now 
out  in  the  whol  Governt.  of  New  Hampshire.  Its  a  small 
matter  not  more  then  7000  sterling,  tho'  the  sum  be  small 
yet  its  a  help  to  our  trade,  and  if  H.M.  would  be  pleased  to 
indulge  us  with  25  or  30,000  more  it  would  greately  incorrage 
Trade,  and  allso  the  settlemt.  of  the  out  lands,  and  the  better 
enable  us  to  defend  our  selves  against  the  Indians  when  ever 
they  may  make  a  war  upon  us,  tho'  they  are  very  quiet  at  for 
the  present,  there  seems  to  be  a  greater  necessity  for  strikeing 
more  paper  credit  now  then  for  many  years  past,  my  reason 
is  this,  that  some  of  our  over  grown  men  have  horded  up  the 
money  to  make  an  advantage  thereof  on  the  pore  and  midling 
sort  of  people  when  there  mortgages  are  out  which  is  with  a 
yeare  or  less,  now  the  makeing  more  would  obleige  those  usurers 
to  onlock  there  cofers,  by  which  the  pore  and  midling  people 
wo'd  be  releived.  I  herewith  inclose  the  Journalls  of  our 
Generall  Assembly  from  December  1727  to  May  1728,  and  the 
Acts  then  passed.  In  the  year  1723  we  past  a  Tryaniall  Act 
for  Ellection  of  Assembly-men,  but  with  a  saveing  claws  therein, 
that  H.M.  pleasure  should  be  first  known,  and  that  lying  ever 
since  under  consideration  and  the  people  being  verry  desierous 
of  being  indulged  therein  and  considering  what  H.M.  had 
favourd  many  of  his  subjects  at  home  and  abroad  in  the 
Plantations,  and  since  it  had  layen  so  long  a  time  it  is  pre- 
sumed that  if  it  had  been  disagreable  to  H.M.  his  disallowance 
thereof  had  been  long  since  made  known.  The  Act  dos  not 
take  place  untill  the  year  1731,  so  that  in  case  H.M.  dos  not 
approve  of  what  I  have  don  in  the  prmises,  there  will  be  time 
enough  to  repeale  said  Act,  I  have  allso  repealed  the  Riott 
Act  which  was  greiveous  to  many,  since  we  have  not  a  man 
in  all  this  Govermt.  that  hath  shewd  himselfe  in  the  least 
disaffected  to  our  late  Sovereign  King  George  the  First  of 


154 


COLONIAL   PAPERS. 


1728. 

blessed  memory,  and  much  less  so  in  the  prsent  King  George 
the  Second's  time,  we  haveing  verry  good  laws  besides  to 
punish  such  like  offenders,  the  people  of  this  Province  being 
allwayes  noted  for  there  loyalty  were  verry  desierous  to  have 
that  law  repealed,  it  being  as  they  thot  a  greate  reflection  on 
them.  I  hope  your  Lordships  will  think  favourably  of  me  for 
what  I  have  don  therein.  We  expect  Governr.  Burnet  at  Boston 
in  fiften  dayes  which  conclud  my  long  epistle  for  which  I  aske 
your  Lords  pardon  and  patience.  Signed,  Jno.  Wentworth. 
Endorsed,  Reed.  22nd  Aug.,  1728,  Read  23rd  May,  1729. 
Holograph.  3  pp.  Enclosed, 

303.  i.  Account  of  powder  and  stores,  Fort  William  and  Mary, 
Newcastle,  N.H.,  May,  1728.  Signed,  Richard  Perry, 
Gunner,  J.  Wentworth.  Endorsed  as  preceding.  2|  pp. 
[C.O.  5,  870.  ff.  (with  abstract)  234—235,  237— 239v.] 

[June  .J  304.  Claims  by  British  merchants  and  shippers  on  account 
of  ships  and  goods,  bound  for  America  and  the  West  Indies, 
seized  by  Spanish  men  of  war  and  privateers  in  1727.  Endorsed, 
Reed.  Read  13th  June,  1728  etc.  [C.O.  388,  27.  ff.  196—301.] 


July  1. 

St. 
Christophers. 


July  2. 

Whitehall. 


305.  Mr.  Willett  to  Mr.  Popple.   In  reply  to  his  letter  relating 
to  his  complaint    against    Lt.    General    Mathew  explains  that 
they  have  accommodated  their  difference,  which  arose  from  the 
Lt.  General  thinking  that  his  protest  in  Council  reflected  on  his 
administration,  which  he  never  meant.   He  has  resigned  his  seat 
in  Council  owing  to  declining  health  and  private  affairs.  This  was 
not    occasioned    by    Governour    Mathew's    behaviour  to    him. 
"  I  had  writ  my  friends  in  London  of  this  my  purpose  many 
months  before  ;  that  I  might  be  left  out  of  my  Lord  London- 
derry's Instructions."    Signed,  John  Willett.    Endorsed,  Reed. 
Read  8th  Oct.,  1728.     I  p.     [C.O.  152,  16.    ff.  357,  858v.] 

306.  Duke  of  Newcastle  to  the  Council  of  Trade  and  Plant- 
ations.   It  having  been  represented  to  H.M.  that  there  is  great 
occasion  for  an  Engineer  at  Jamaica,  for  the  raising  and  repair- 
ing such  works,  as  are  judged  necessary   for  the  defence  and 
security  of  that  Island,  H.M.  out  of  a  tender  regard  to  the  good 
and  safety  of  his  subjects  there,  is  pleased  to  allow  that  Mr. 
Lilly  should  attend  that  service  etc.   But  in  regard  to  the  extra- 
ordinary charge  of  his  going  and  residing  there,  it  is  expected 
that  he  should  be  paid  20s.  per  diem,  which  is  the  allowance 
that  has  been  constantly  made  to  Engineers  in  the  West  Indies, 
and  his  pay  here  being  no  more  than  £200  pr.  ann.,  H.M.  judges 
it  proper,  that  Major  General  Hunter  should  be  directed  to 
recommend  it  to  the  General  Assembly  of  Jamaica  to  allow 
him  the  difference  etc.  You  are  to  prepare  an  Instruction  accord- 
ingly for   H.M.   approbation   etc.      Signed,   Holies   Newcastle. 
Endorsed,  Reed.  Read  July  3,  1728.   2 pp.   [C.O.  137,  17.  ff.  43, 

'.,  440.] 


AMERICA  AND   WEST  INDIES. 


155 


1728. 
July  3. 

New  York. 


307.  Governor  Burnet  to  the  Council  of  Trade  and  Plant- 
ations. Has  received  his  Commissions  and  Instructions  etc. 
and  is  preparing  to  go  to  Boston  with  all  possible  dispatch. 
Gives  account  of  12  Acts  passed  in  the  last  Sessions.  Regrets 
to  learn  that  the  Board  is  still  apprehensive  that  the  sinking 
fund  was  not  complete  without  the  interest,  and  that  the  credit 
of  the  bills  would  suffer  by  applying  it  another  way.  Encloses 
certificates  to  show  that  the  value  of  Jersey  money  is  still 
encreasing.  Encloses  printed  acts  and  minutes  of  the  Session, 
"  in  which  your  Lordships  will  observe  that  there  were  more 
contests  than  have  ever  happened  before,  and  that  the  Council 
have  moderated  and  refused  several  unreasonable  things 
proposed  by  the  Assembly  "  etc.  Set  out,  N.J.  Archives  1st 
Ser.  V.  190.  Signed,  W.  Burnet.  Endorsed,  Reed.  9th  Oct., 
Read  13th  Nov.,  1728.  9  pp.  Enclosed, 

307.  i.  Certificate  of  merchants  of  Perth  Amboy  that  New 
Jersey  proclamation  money  has  risen  so  that  one  pound 
currently  passes  at  £l.  Is.  3d.  New  York  money. 
18th  May,  1728.  24  signatures.  1  p. 

307.  ii.  Certificate  that  the  Signatories  of  preceding  are  the 
chief  traders  of  Perth  Amboy  etc.  18th  May,  1728. 
Signed,  John  Parker,  Mayor  of  Perth  Amboy.  £  p. 
307.  iii.  Certificate  by  Merchants  of  New  York,  confirming 
encl.  No.  i.  1st  June,  1728.  Signed,  Rip  van  Dam  and 
10  others,  f  p. 

307.  iv.  Certificate  that  the  signatories  of  preceding  are  of  the 
chief  traders  of  New  York  etc.  29th  June,  1728.  Signed, 
Robt.  Lurting,  Mayor  of  New  York.  Seal  of  City  of 
New  York  \p. 

Nos.  i  —  iv  endorsed,  Reed.  9th  Oct.,  1728. 
307.   v.  Act  of  New  Jersey,   1698,   declaring  the  rights  and 
privileges  of  the  subject    etc.     Endorsed  as  preceding. 
Copy.  3  pp.    [C.O.  5,  972.   ff.  159—163,  164,  165,  166, 


July  4. 

Whitehall. 


July  4. 

Hampton 
Court. 


July  4. 
Whitehall. 


308.  Council  of  Trade  and  Plantations  to  Governor  the 
Earl  of  Londonderry.      Enclose  for  publication  Order  repealing 
Act  of  St.  Kitts  repealing  Act  for  settling  £2000  etc.  (12th  June). 
Conclude  :    We  shall   be   glad  to  hear  of  your  Lordship's  safe 
arrival.     [C.O.  153,  14.  pp.  403,  404.] 

309.  Order  of  King  in  Council.    Referring  to  a  Committee 
of  the  Council  the  Representation  of  27th  June  with  draughts  of 
Instructions  to  Governor  Worsley.     Signed,  Edward  Southwell. 
Endorsed,  Reed.  19th  Oct.,  Read  20th  Nov.,  1728.  I  p.  [C.O.  28, 
20.  //.  66,  670.] 

310.  Council   of  Trade   and   Plantations   to   the   Duke   of 
Newcastle.     Enclose  following  to  be  laid  before  H.M.    Annexed, 


156 


COLONIAL   PAPERS. 


1728. 


July  4. 

Whitehall. 


July  4. 

Barbados. 


July  4. 

Whitehall. 


July  9. 

Whitehall. 


July  9. 

Annapolis 
Royal. 


310.  i.  Same  to  the  King.  Submit  following. 

310.  ii.  Additional  Instruction  to  Governor  Hunter,  requiring 
him  to  move  the  Assembly  for  an  additional  salary  of 
£165,  to  make  up  his  pay  to  20s.  per  diem,  for  Col.  Lilly, 
Engineer,  whilst  employed  in  the  service  of  that  Island 
etc.  (v.  2nd  July).  [C.0.  138,  17.  pp.  242—244.] 

31  1  .  Mr.  Popple  to  Mr.  Fane.  Encloses,  for  his  opinion  in 
point  of  law,  19  Acts  of  the  Massachusets  Bay,  1727,  (titles 
given).  [C.O.  5,  916.  pp.  166—  169  ;  and  1729,  Copy.  I  p.  28.] 


312.     Extract    of   letter   from     Mr.    Forbes    to     [? 


—  ]. 

Confirms  his  previous  statement  as  to  numbers  settled  on  Sta. 
Lucia.  There  are  now  upwards  of  1200  French  family  s  there 
and  daily  increasing.  They  are  very  curteous  and  civil  to  the 
few  English  amongst  them,  but  it  may  be  justly  feared,  that  the 
very  first  opportunity  they'l  readily  embrace  to  dispossess 
them  etc.  Endorsed,  Reed,  (from  Mr.  Wood),  Read  llth  Dec. 
1729.  Copy.  lp.  [C.O.  28,  21.  Jj.  22,  22u.] 

313.  Mr.  Popple  to  Mr.  Attorney  and  Solicitor  General. 
Encloses  Act  of  New  York,  1727,  for  preventing  prosecutions  by 
informations,  for  their  opinion  in  point  of  law.  [C.O.  5,  1125. 

' 


314.  Council  of  Trade  and  Plantations  to  the  King.  Propose 
Joseph  Pilgrim  for  the  Council  of  Barbados  in  the  room  of  George 
Lillington  (t;.  27th  June),  who  by  reason  of  his  ill  state  of  health 
and  the  disposition  of  his  affairs  does  not  design  returning  etc. 
[C.O.  29,  15.  p.  96.] 

31  5.  Lt.  Governor  Armstrong  to  the  Duke  of  Newcastle. 
Refers  to  letter  Nov.  17th  etc.  Scarce  anything  material  has 
occurred  since  etc.  The  French  inhabitants  continue  still  in  the 
same  temper  and  disposition  of  making  no  submission  to  H.M.  etc. 
As  an  aggravation  of  their  crime  I  can  add  that  notwithstanding 
they  have  had  the  way  open  to  reconcile  themselves  to  the 
Governmt.  pursuant  to  a  Minute  of  Council,  13th  Nov.  last,  by 
admitting  them  to  swear  allegiance  to  H.M.  on  their  requiring  the 
same,  yet  the  success  has  not  answer'd  my  good  intention  for 
not  above  two  or  three  have  taken  the  benefit  thereof.  I  think 
they  have  an  insuperable  aversion  to  the  English  Nation  both 
Church  and  State  and  as  they  are  become  a  great  people  I  hope 
the  wisdom  of  the  Government  will  speedily  see  cause  to  curb  their 
insolence  and  reduce  them  to  their  duty  before  the  task  becomes 
much  harder  by  the  dayly  increase  of  their  strength  and  number 
which  is  already  very  considerable  etc.  The  great  lenity  of  the 
Governmt.  is  in  some  measure  the  cause  of  the  peoples  disobed- 
ience, for  I  have  no  warrant  nor  authority  by  H.M.  Royal 


AMERICA  AND   WEST  INDIES.  157 

1728. 

Commission  and  Instructions  to  Governor  Philipps,  to  proceed 
further  against  them  that  refuse  the  oaths  than  only  to  debar 
them  from  fishing  during  H.M.  pleasure,  which  restraint  many 
of  them  are  willing  to  bear  with  in  hopes  of  some  speedy  revolu- 
tion or  change  of  Governmt.  which  they  are  encouraged  by  their 
priests  and  neighbouring  French  Governors  to  look  for  very 
soon.  However  I  can  hardly  think  that  when  matters  are  brought 
to  the  push,  either  to  swear,  or  go,  that  they  will  persist  in  their 
disobedience  so  far  as  to  quitt  their  plantations  and  improve- 
ments to  settle  new  Colonies,  tho  they  want  neither  invitations 
nor  promises  from  the  Islands  of  Cape  Breton  and  St.  Johns 
for  that  purpose.  I  acquainted  your  Grace  in  my  last  of  several 
murthers  and  robberys  committed  by  the  Indians  in  this 
Province  and  Newfoundland  last  fall  which  manifestly  appear  to 
have  been  done  through  the  instigations  if  not  by  the  assistance 
of  the  French.  I  am  since  advised  that  a  great  body  of  those 
people  made  an  appearance  near  Canso  last  winter  as  if  they 
intended  to  attempt  some  mischief  but  at  last  retired  without 
committing  any  hostilitys.  On  the  month  of  May  last  an  Indian 
tribe  consisting  of  about  26  men  under  the  command  of  3  or  4 
of  their  Sachems  from  the  village  of  Meductoo  an  Indian  settle- 
ment of  50  odd  leagues  up  the  River  of  St.  Johns  came  here  to 
ratifye  the  peace  concluded  at  Boston  and  to  make  their 
submission  to  the  Governmt.  Whereupon  I  advisd  with  the 
Commission  Officers  here  in  garrison  about  their  treatment  and 
reception.  Who  were  unanimously  of  opinion  that  they  should  be 
handsomely  entertained  while  they  staid  and  at  their  going  away 
should  receive  some  testimonies  and  marks  of  H.M.  bounty  in 
regard  that  they  were  the  first  of  the  upper  villages  who  had  been 
here  to  pay  their  respects  to  the  Governmt.,  upon  which  I  made 
them  several  presents  and  entertained  them  for  several  days  and 
at  last  sent  them  away  very  well  satisfied.  As  I  have  not  any 
allowance  for  this  nor  any  other  chargeable  service,  I  beg  leave 
to  acquaint  your  Grace  that  without  some  methods  are  used 
to  satisfy  the  covetous  desires  of  the  Indians  it  will  be  impossible 
to  retain  them  in  H.M.  interest  or  wean  their  affections  from  the 
French.  All  the  charges  of  the  Government  I  have  hitherto 
born  without  either  allowance  for  the  same,  or  salary.  I  can 
sincerely  affirm  notwithstanding  these  discouragements,  I  have 
never  been  backward  to  contribute  both  my  money  and  credit 
to  support  H.M.  interest,  which  I  hope  your  Grace  will  believe 
is  what  I  have  most  at  heart,  notwithstanding  the  forgerys  and 
insinuations  of  selfish  malicious  men,  has  been  the  principal  aim 
of  my  actions.  Signed,  L.  Armstrong.  Endorsed,  Rd.  Nov.  18th. 
4pp.  [C.O.  217,  38.  No.  17.] 

July  9.          31 6.     Same  to  the  Council  of  Trade  and  Plantations.    Dupli- 
Annapoiis     cate  of  preceding,  mutatis  mutandis.     Signed,    L.    Armstrong. 

Boyal. 


158 


COLONIAL  PAPERS. 


1728. 


July  12. 

Annapolis 
Royal. 


July  15. 

Antego. 


Endorsed,  Reed.  14th  Nov.  1728,  Read  23rd  May,  1729.  4  pp. 
fC.O.  217,  5.  ff.  114—1150.,  116r.  ;  and  (abstracts)  217,  30. 
pp.  31—33.] 

317.  Lt.  Govr.  Armstrong  to  Mr.  Stanion.     Is  disappointed 
at  not  having  heard  from  him  as  to  the  reception  of  his  packet  by 
Capt.  Bennett,  or  received  instructions  etc.     Refers  to  complaints 
against  him  "  by  two  or  three  malitious  traders  in  this  Province, 
although  not  exhibited,  but  lodged  in  the  hands  of  Govr.  Philipps 
who  only  wants  a  proper  opportunity  off  makeing  his  own  use  of 
them  to  my  prejudice.    This  as  well  as  ye  unsettled  state  of  this 
Province  makes  me  very  uneasy  and  oblidges  me  to  desire  your 
interest  to  gett  me  the  Kings  leave  of  abscence  to  come  home  to 
settle  my  affaires  "  etc.    Signed,  L.  Armstrong.    Endorsed,  Rd. 
Nov.  18th.    Addressed.    Sealed.    %p.    [C.O.  217,  38.  Wo.  18.] 

318.  Lt.   General  Mathew  to  Mr.   Popple.      Acknowledges 
letter  of  8th  Feb.  Continues  : — I  am  under  a  very  great  concerne 
for  having  sent  the  publick  papers  open  to  the  Agents  etc.  I  never 
shall  be  guilty  of  the  like  fault  again,  etc.     Encloses  duplicate  of 
May  20th  etc.    Continues  : — I  have  no  copy  of  Mr.  Greatheed's 
petition,  so  as  to  know  what  he  alledges  against  me  etc.  When  he 
calls  upon  me  I  shall  be  ready  to  join  with  him  in  having  the 
proper  affidavits  mutually  made,  as  their  Lordships  direct.     I 
have  long  since  sent  to  Mr.  Meure  proofs  upon  oath  to  justify 
every  particular  of  the  information  I  had  receiv'd  against  him, 
which  I  should  have  been  glad  their  Lordships  had  ordered  his 
laying  before  them.    I  know  no  more  of  that  affair  than  I  did  then 
etc.    As  to  Mr.  Willett,  there  was  too  much  warmth  on  both  sides 
etc.   I  was  loth  to  give  their  Lordships  my  account  of  that  matter 
from  a  remaining  concerne  still  in  me  for  a  most  dear  friend  that 
had  been  torne  from  me.    We  have  been  for  some  months  past 
on  terms  of  reconciliation,  and  now  there  remains  nothing,  but  to 
obtain  from  their  Lordships,  that  all  that  matter  may  be  forgot, 
without  prejudice  to  Mr.   Willett' s  character,   or  mine.      The 
present  state  of  the  Leeward  Islands  I  intended  to  lay  before 
their  Lordships,  contains  so  much  of  my  own  way  of  thinking 
as  to  these  Islands  and  I  am  grown  so  out  of  conceipt  with  it, 
that  I  pray  to  be  excus'd  from  exposing  myself  by  laying  such 
notions  before  them,  as  I  once  weakly  intended.     The  Antego 
duplicate  acts  (sent  to  Mr.  Yeamans)  are  neither  of  them  signed  by 
the  Clerk  of  the  Council,  but  only  by  the  Clerk  of  the  Assembly  ; 
I  cou'd  not  persuade  Mr.  Wavell  Smith,  the  Secretary  to  signe 
'em.     He  is  at  variance  with  the  Clerk  of  the  Assembly,  from 
whom  I  had  these  as  usual,  insisting  that  the  drawing  these 
acts  belonged  to  his  office  ;  the  other  insists  they  belong  to  him, 
and  I  am  forced  to  send  them  as  they  are,  or  else  not  at  all. 
Mr.  Smith  promised  to  give  me  his  reasons  in  writing,  but  he 
disappointed  me  etc,   Encloses  Minutes  of  Council  of  Montserrat, 


AMERICA  AND   WEST  INDIES.  159 

1728. 

16th  Jan. — 2fith  Feb.  last.  It  is  impracticable  for  me  to  get 
from  Mr.  Smith  and  his  Deputys  the  Minutes  that  I  am  required 
by  the  Instructions  to  send  from  time  to  time  :  I  write  and  speak 
incessantly,  but  to  no  purpose,  and  as  to  the  abstracts  of  proceed- 
ings in  the  Courts  of  King's  Bench  and  Common  Pleas,  Oyer  and 
Terminer  etc.  I  can  get  no  other  answer  from  him,  but  that  he 
does  not  know  how  to  be  paid  for  them,  nor  will  let  me  have 
them.  He  says  the  Clerks  of  the  Offices  at  home  told  him,  that 
instruction  was  obsolete,  and  more  for  forme  sake  than  for  any 
use  they  can  be  of  at  home,  that  they  are  never  sent,  that 
he  will  give  me  a  memorial  on  it  in  Council,  that  his  clerks  are 
sick,  that  Lord  Londonderry  will  be  here  soon  etc.  This  is  all 
I  can  get  from  him  etc.  Signed,  William  Mathew.  Endorsed, 
Reed.  21st  Oct.  1728,  Read  28th  March,  1729.  If  pp.  [C.O. 
152,  17:  ff.  9,  9i>.,  Wv.] 

July  16.         319.     Council   of  Trade   and   Plantations   to   the   Duke   of 

Whitehall.     Newcastle.  Enclose  following.  Annexed, 

319.  i.  Same  to  the  King.  Enclose  draughts  of  Commission  and 
Instructions  for  Governor  Philipps.  Continue  :— We 
have  inserted  the  same  powers  formerly  granted  by  his 
late  Majesty  to  Colo.  Philipps,  save  only  that  in  the 
draught  of  Instructions,  we  have  added  one  con- 
formable to  your  Majesty's  Order  in  Council,  28th 
March,  directing  him  to  be  aiding  and  assisting 
your  Majesty's  Surveyor  General  of  Woods  etc. 
in  preventing  the  destruction  of  them  in  Nova  Scotia, 
and  in  punishing  such  as  shall  be  found  offending 
therein.  We  have  likewise  omitted  the  34th  clause, 
concerning  the  fortifications  at  Placentia,  and  the 
removal  of  part  of  the  Garrison  from  thence,  the 
design  of  that  Instruction  being  already  complied  with ; 
some  further  alterations  may  perhaps  hereafter  be 
thought  proper  to  be  made  both  in  the  said  Commission 
and  Instructions.  But  we  thought  it  our  duty  to  frame 
these  upon  the  former  plan,  till  such  time  as  your 
Majesty  shall  be  graciously  pleas' d  to  declare  your 
Royal  pleasure  upon  the  Representations  formerly 
made,  more  particularly  that  of  7th  June,  1727,  upon 
the  methods  for  encouraging  your  Majesty's  subjects 
to  settle  in  Nova  Scotia,  for  establishing  the  form  of  a 
Civil  Government  there,  and  likewise  for  the  preser- 
vation of  your  Majesty's  woods  in  that  country. 
Autograph  signatures.  I  p.  Enclosed, 

319.  ii.  Draught  of  Commission  for  Richard  Philipps  to  be 
Governor  of  Placentia  and  Nova  Scotia  or  Accadie. 
v.  preceding. 

319.  iii.  Governor  Philipps'  Instructions,  v.  preceding.  32 
Articles.  Articles  33 — 35,  directing  the  encouragement 


160  COLONIAL   PAPERS. 

1728. 

of  inhabitants  of  Newfoundland  to  remove  to  Nova 
Scotia,  and  the  garrison  at  Placentia,  are  deleted. 
Signed,  C.R.,  C.R.,  (Caroline,  Queen,  Guardian  of  the 
Realm).  Kensington,  1st  July,  1729.  [C.O.  218,  2. 
pp.  81 — 119  ;  and  (covering  letter  only]  194,  23.  No.  34.] 

July  17.  320.  Lt.  Governor  Mathew  to  Mr.  Popple.  Mr.  Meure 
Antego.  writes  me  their  Lordships  are  greatly  displeas'd  at  me  for  passing 
the  act  to  repeal  Governor  Hart's  settlement  of  £2000  a  year  ; 
that  it  is  charg'd  upon  me,  as  an  effect  of  malice  and  resentment, 
a  breach  of  H.M.  instructions,  and  on  a  false  foundation.  I 
wish  Mr.  Hart  had  stay'd  here  to  this  day,  rather  than  I  should 
thus  have  incur'd  their  Lordships  displeasure  ;  the  chief  com- 
mand has  been  far  from  a  lucrative  one  to  me,  and  given  me 
sufficient  uneasyness,  from  the  perverse  contradictions  I  have 
met  with  in  opposition  to  every  publick  service  ;  for  I  have 
pursued  nothing  for  myself.  The  foundation  for  which  was  layd 
before  Governor  Hart  went  home,  and  constantly  kept  on  foot 
by  letters  containing  paragraphs  of  mine  to  their  Lordships  ;  and 
even  one  of  those  letters  inform'd  the  people  of  St.  Christophers 
(to  raise  an  odium  against  me)  that  Mr.  Meure  at  home  actually 
presented  a  memorial  to  their  Lordships  of  the  Board  of  Trade 
craving  their  Lordships  leave  for  my  obtaining  a  most  exorbitant 
thousand  pound  a  year  over  and  above  the  two  thousand  given 
to  Governor  Hart  etc.  Mr.  Butler  on  a  very  publick  occasion 
charged  me  with  it,  in  the  most  insolent  manner  ;  and  upon  my 
denying  it,  urged  the  authority  of  his  information,  even  to  giving 
me  the  lye.  I  have  really  thus  much  to  say,  as  to  my  passing 
that  act ;  if  it  was  ever  confirm'd  at  home  by  H.M.,  'twas  more 
than  I  ever  knew,  or  any  one  man  in  the  Government  else  ;  when 
acts  are  confirm'd  by  H.M.,  that  confirmation  is  allways  notified 
to  the  Council  at  least,  and  enter'd  in  the  Council  books  ;  such 
notification  or  entry  I  do  aver  was  never  made  here  etc.  Governor 
Hart's  resignation  of  that  present  from  the  Island  was  so  publick, 
so  solemne  and  so  frequent,  that  I  cannot  believe  what  I  now 
heare  from  England,  that  he  should  forget  it.  I  do  aver  as  a 
fixed  truth  that  the  whole  purport  of  that  act  was  only  to 
strengthen  that  renunciation,  against  a  law,  that  it  was  imagin'd 
in  case  of  his  death,  his  executrs.  would  set  up  against  the 
Island  ;  no  one  person  ever  imagin'd  that  it  would  obviate  a 
claim  of  Governor  Hart's  own,  for  no  one  believ'd  he  ever  would 
make  one  ;  The  law  went  through  both  Houses  I  may  say 
almost  unanimously  ;  there  was  but  one  single  objection  made 
to  it,  and  that  was  by  Mr.  Willett  his  chief  friend,  in  both  Houses  ; 
the  only  objection  he  made  was,  that  if  Mr.  Hart  should  returne 
again  Chief  Governor,  his  renunciation  then,  (which  could  only 
be  meant  during  his  absence  or  in  case  of  his  removal)  would 
determine  ;  but  Mr.  Willett  added  then  in  words  (for  he  was  a 
witness  to  that  renunciation)  that  if  Mr,  Hart  did  not  returne, 


AMERICA  AND   WEST   INDIES.  161 

1728. 

he  did  not  think  he  could  in  honour  ask  or  claim  that  settlement 
during  his  absence.  And  then  Mr.  Willett  was  reminded  of  the 
following  circumstance  to  convince  him,  that  if  ever  Governor 
Hart  should  returne  he  would  abate  of  his  expectations  from  the 
Island.  A  very  little  while  before  Governor  Hart  embark'd  for 
England,  and  when  Lord  Londonderry  was  even  then  dayly 
expected,  he  was  pleased  to  make  in  Council  the  following 
declaration  ;  That  upon  his  removal  he  should  become  a  planter, 
a  brother  inhabitant  of  the  Island,  that  if  the  Council  pleas'd 
the  doors  might  be  shutt,  that  he  was  convinced  the  provision 
of  £2000  a  year  made  for  him  was  exorbitant  and  a  burthen  too 
heavy  for  the  Island  to  bear,  and  that  he  was  ready  then  to  joine 
with  the  Council  in  any  methods  could  be  contrived  to  prevent 
such  extortions  for  the  future  etc.  Continues : — I  submit  whether 
etc.  after  this  resignation  and  declaration,  my  passing  an  act  to 
confirme  both  could  give  me  the  least  apprehensions,  that  I 
should  thereby  incurr  their  Lordships'  displeasure.  Mr.  Soulegre 
and  Pym,  Members  of  H.M.  Council  are  now  in  London,  Gentle- 
men of  inviolable  truth  and  great  worth ;  I  pray  I  may  be  either 
condemn'd  or  acquitted  by  their  confirming  to  their  Lordships 
viva  voce,  or  denying  any  one  circumstance  abovemention'd  etc. 
Continues  : — I  have  not  broke  the  Instruction,  that  says  I 
shall  do  nothing  to  lessen  H.M.  revenue  ;  for  this  repealing  act 
only  alters  the  application  etc.  Refers  to  enclosures.  Continues  : — 
The  transactions  of  those  days  and  the  debates  were  publick 
enough.  The  secresy  recommended  by  Governor  Hart  was  not 
join'd  in  by  the  Board  ;  and  the  Councellors'  oath  is  only  to 
keep  secret  such  debates  as  the  Council  shall  resolve  shall  be  so 
kept.  I  have  supported  the  Government  most  expensively, 
and  from  the  publick  occasion  of  H.M.  accession  and  other 
publick  days  'twas  unavoidable  ;  I  have  nothing  but  the  half 
of  the  sallary  of  Chief  Governor  and  the  £200  a  year  as  Lt. 
Governor,  from  H.M.  ;  I  have  receiv'd  nothing  for  upwards  of 
five  years.  Their  Lordships  then  must  certainly  know  my  own 
estate  alone  must  have  supported  me.  The  island  of  St.  Christ- 
ophers its  true  makes  me  a  small  present  of  £200  sterling  a  year. 
If  Governor  Hart  has  his  £2000  a  year,  I  hope  their  Lordships 
will  permit  my  endeavouring  on  Sr.  Philipp  York's  opinion  to 
recover  half  of  it  from  him  etc.  Signed,  William  Mathew. 
Endorsed,  Reed.  9th  Nov.,  1728,  Read  28th  March,  1729.  2|  pp. 
Enclosed, 

320.  i.  Deposition  of  Francis  Phipps.  St.  Christophers,  29th 
June,  1728.  Deponent  heard  Governor  Hart  declare 
in  Council  that  he  was  now  becoming  a  planter  and 
ready  to  join  with  them  to  relieve  the  Island  from  the 
intolerable  oppression  of  the  settlement  of  £2000  a 
year  they  had  till  then  made  on  him,  which  the  island 
could  not  afford  etc.  Signed,  Francis  Phipps.  £  p. 

o.p.  xxxvi— 11 


162 
1728. 


July  18. 

Whitehall. 


July  18. 
Whitehall. 


July  18. 

Whitehall. 

July  20. 

Barbados. 


COLONIAL  PAPERS. 


320.  ii.  Deposition  by  Same.  Deponent  has  often  heard 
several  Members  of  Council  say  that  Governor  Hart 
declared  in  Council  that  he  would  remit  the  settlement 
of  £2000  pr.  annum  made  on  him,  from  the  time  of  his 
departure  etc.  It  appearing  by  the  Treasurer's  account 
that  part  of  the  money  appropriated  by  Governor  Hart's 
act  of  settlement  had  been  applied  for  other  services 
of  the  public,  Mr.  Willett  in  Council  said  he  did  not 
think  Governor  Hart  would  ever  demand  or  receive 
it,  but  his  executors  might,  and  he  therefore  thought 
the  most  proper  method  would  be  to  repeal  that  act 
etc.  Signed,  Francis  Phipps.  f  p. 

320.  iii  &  iv.  Deposition  of  William  Pym  Burt.  St.  Christo- 
phers, 1st  July,  1728.  Confirms  and  amplifies  Nos. 
iandii.  Signed,  William  Pym  Burt.  I  p.  and^p. 

320.  v.  Deposition  of  James  Losack.    St.  Christophers,  June 

13th,  1728.  Deponent  cannot  find  any  entry  in  the 
Council  books  of  the  confirmation  of  the  Act  for 
settling  £2000  per  annum  on  Governor  Hart  etc.  Signed, 
James  Losack,  Depty.  Secry.  1%  pp.  Endorsed,  Reed. 
(from  Mr.  Meure)  7th  Nov.  1728.  Nos.  i — v  endorsed, 
Reed.  9th  Nov.,  1728.  [C.O.  152,  17.  ff.  11—13,  14, 
15,  16,  17,  I7v.,  I8v.,  22v.] 

321 .  Council  of  Trade  and  Plantations  to  the  Duke  of  New- 
castle. Enclose  following,  to  be  laid  before  the  King.     Autograph 
signatures.  Ip.  Enclosed, 

321.  i.  Extract  of  Governor  Hunter's  letter,  4th  May,  relating 

to  Spanish  privateers.  [C.O.  137,  46.  Nos.  52,  52.  i  ; 
and  (without  enclosure)  138, 17.  p.  245.] 

322.  Bryan  Wheelock  to  William  Popple.    Having  in  your 
brother's  absence  got  copies  prepared  of  the  representations  of 
28th  Sept.  1717  and  20th  June,  1728,  as  desired  by  H.E.  Mr. 
Walpole  by  your  letter  of  13th  inst.  N.S.  with  a  schedule  annexed 
etc.,  I  have  this  day  sent   the  same    to  Mr.  Delafaye  to   be 
despatch'd  to  you  by  the  first  messenger.     [C.O.  389,  28.   p.  263.] 

323.  Mr.  Wheelock  to  Mr.  Delafaye.      Encloses  copies  of 
representations  as  preceding.   [C.O.  389,  28.  pp.  362,  363.] 

324.  Governor  Worsley  to  the  Duke  of  Newcastle.     After 
I  had  several  times  prorogued  the  last  General   Assembly  etc., 
that  there  might  be  sufficient  time  to  pass  a  new  Excise  Act  etc. 
(v.  9th  April),  I  dissolved  the  said  Assembly,  18th  June,  and  by 
the  advice,  and  consent  of  H.M.  Council,  called  a  new  one  to 
meet  the  13th  July,  when,  they  accordingly  met,  and  again 
choses  Collo.  Peers  their  Speaker ;  Whilst  there  was  no  Assembly 
sitting  the  Countrey  was  pretty  quiet,  but  upon  this  last  election, 


AMERICA   AND   WEST   INDIES. 


163 


1728. 


July  20. 

Barbados. 


July  22. 

Horse 
Guards. 


July  22. 

Hampton 
Court. 


the  former  spirit  of  faction  broke  forth,  and  the  general  cry  was, 
for  the  good  of  their  eountrey ;  Upon  their  first  meeting,  I  made 
them  a  speech  (copy  enclosed).  The  Assembly  has  met  and  once 
passed  the  Excise  bill,  and  tho'  a  Committee  was  appointed  to 
draw  up  an  answer,  as  they  call  it,  to  my  speech,  yet  they  have 
not  done  it,  in  that  they  say,  it  seems  to  require  the  most 
mature  consideration,  and  therefore  desired  a  longer  time  to 
consider  of  it ;  I  can't  imagine  what  it  is  they  boggle  at  in  my 
Speech.  Notwithstanding  the  cessation  of  Arms,  which  has 
been  published,  between  Great  Britain  and  Spain,  we  have  had 
lately  taken,  by  a  Spanish  privateer  of  St.  Domingo,  a 
merchant  ship,  the  Dolphin,  Jasper  Morris  master,  which  was 
loaden  with  sugar  and  bound  for  London  etc.  Refers  to 
enclosures.  Signed,  Henry  Worsley.  Endorsed,  R.  Oct.  8.  3  pp. 
Enclosed, 

324.  i.  Deposition    of    Jasper  Morris,   Thomas   Markis   and 

Michael  Galwey,  as  to  the  capture  of  the  Dolphin  by  a 

Spanish    privateer   etc.      Barbados,    8th    July,    1728. 

Referred  to  in  preceding.  Copy.  lf/>£>. 

324.    ii.    Similar  deposition    by   Same  and  Walter  Quarme. 

St.  Christophers.  29th  June,  1728.  Copy.  \lpp. 
324.  iii.  Governor  Worsley's  Speech  to  the  Assembly.  We 
cannot  be  too  zealous  in  demonstrating  our  loyalty  to 
H.M.  etc.  Recommends  them,  after  passing  the  Excise 
bill,  to  consider  the  ruinous  condition  of  the  fortifi- 
cations etc.  Copy.  2 1  pp. 

324.  iv.  Address   of  the   Grand   Jury   of  Barbados   to   the 

King,  llth — 13th  June,  1728.  Pray  for  his  long  and 
prosperous  reign  etc.  Signed,  17  signatures.  1  large 
folded  p.  [C.O.  28,  44.  Nos.  121,  121  i— iv.] 

325.  Governor  Worsley  to  the  Council  of  Trade  and  Plant- 
ations.   Duplicate  of  preceding  covering  letter.    Signed,  Henry 
Worsley.     Endorsed,  Reed.  7th,  Read  15th  Oct.,  1728.     3  pp. 
Enclosed, 

325.  i.,  ii.  Duplicates  of  preceding  end.  Nos.  i,  iii.    Endorsed  as 

preceding.  [C.O.  28,  19.  //'.  204— 206i;.,  207t\—  2()8t;., 
2090.] 

326.  Judge  Advocate  Hughes  to  the  Duke    of  Newcastle. 
See  No.  358  iv.     Signed,  E.  Hughes.     Endorsed,  R.  27.     3  pp. 
Enclosed, 

326.  i.  Rev.  Thomas  Curphey  to  Mr.  Hughes.    See  No.  358  iii. 

[C.O.  23,  14.   ff.  41— 44u.] 

327.  Duke  of  Newcastle  to  the  Council  of  Trade  and  Planta- 
tions.   I  herewith  send  yor.  Lops,  several  papers  etc.,  which  I 
have  lately  received  from  Mr.  Donovan  Agent  to  the  Contractors 
for  victualling  H.M.  ships  at  Jamaica,  who  complains  of  his 
being   under    prosecution    there,    for     having    imported    from 
Barbados  a  quantity  of  rum  for  the  use  of  H.M.  Squadron  in  the 


164  COLONIAL  PAPERS. 

1728. 

West  Indies,  and  having  caused  it  to  be  put  on  board  one  of 
H.M.  ships  at  Port  Royal,  from  whence  it  was  distributed  among 
several  ships  of  the  said  Squadron,  without  paying  the  dutys 
with  which  by  an  Act  lately  passed  in  the  Assembly  of  Jamaica, 
arrack  and  other  spirits  are  chargeable  on  importation  there, 
and  proposes  that  when  this  Act  shall  be  laid  before  the  Council 
etc.,  a  clause  may  be  inserted  in  it,  to  except  from  the  duty  there- 
by laid  on  spirits,  all  such  rum  as  shall  be  imported  for  the  use  of 
H.M.  ships.  You  are  to  lay  before  H.M.  a  state  of  the  case  with 
your  opinion  thereupon  and  whether  a  stop  should  be  put  to 
this  prosecution  etc.  Signed,  Holies  Newcastle.  Endorsed,  Reed. 
22nd,  Read  30th  July,  1728.  l\pp.  Enclosed, 

327.  i.  Timothy  Donovan  to  the  Duke  of  Newcastle.  Port 
Royal.  April  24,  1728.  Complains  as  above.  The  latter 
part  of  the  Act  is  intirely  calculated  against  the  Navy 
and  no  other  etc.  Signed,  Tim.  Donovan.  Endorsed  as 
preceding.  Copy.  2pp. 

327.  ii.  Notification  of  the  duties  laid  by  the  Act  for  granting 
a  revenue  to  H.M.  April  18,  1728.  Signed,  Charles 
L(l)oyd,  Receiver  General.  Same  endorsement.  Copy. 
4|  pp. 

327.  iii.  Correspondence  between  Timothy  Donovan,  Admiral 
Hosier  and  the  Receiver  General,  15th  July  —  llth 
Dec.,  1727,  showing  the  scarcity  and  dearness  of  rum 
and  the  difficulty  of  supplying  the  demands  of  the  fleet 
etc.  Copy.  4>pp. 

327.  iv.  Timothy  Donovan  to  the  President  of  the  Council, 
Port  Royal,  Dec.  12,  1727.  Protests  against  a  summons 
on  account  of  rum  imported  from  Barbados  by  the 
sloop  Jolly  for  the  use  of  the  Squadron,  which  urgently 
needed  it  etc.  Signed,  T.  Donovan.  Copy.  2  £  pp. 
327.  v.  Answers  by  Timothy  Donovan  to  the  information 
exhibited  against  him  by  the  Attorney  General  of 
Jamaica  relating  to  preceding.  Same  endorsement.  Copy. 
5f  pp.  [C.O.  137,  17.  ff.  55,  55v.,  5Qv.—57v.,  58v.— 
68v.,  69v.  ;  and  (covering  letter  only)  137,  46.  No.  53.] 

[July  23.]  328.  Petition  of  Thomas  King  to  the  Council  of  Trade  and 
Plantations.  Prays  that  the  Act  of  Jamaica,  1722,  for  encour- 
ageing  the  speedy  settling  of  Pero  or  Pera  plantations  may  be 
confirmed.  Recounts  previous  procedure  concerning  it  (v.  C.S.P. 
1725  etc.).  The  bills  preferred  by  Rev.  Wm.  Gordon,  his  wife, 
Mr.  Peers  and  Mr.  Whitehead,  have  been  dismissed,  showing 
that  they  have  no  real  claim  to  the  estate  etc.  Endorsed,  Reed. 
23rd  July,  1728,  Read  21st  May,  1729.  2  pp.  [C.O.  137,  18. 
ff.  11,  lit;., 


July  24.  329.  Rev.  T.  Curphey  to  Sir  C.  Wager.  See  No.  358  ii. 
Signed,  Tho.  Curphey.  Addressed,  1  p.  [C.O.  23,  14.  ff.  47, 
480.] 


AMERICA   AND   WEST   INDIES. 


165 


1728. 
July  25. 

Hampton 
Court. 


July  25. 

Hampton 
Court. 

July  25. 

Hampton 
Court. 


July  25. 

Hampton 
Court. 


330.  Order  of  King  in  Council.  Approving  Instructions 
for  Governor  Worsley  as  27th  June,  except  that  the  Council  of 
Trade  having  now  proposed  Joseph  Pilgrim  in  place  of  Mr. 
Lillington,  he  is  appointed  to  the  Council.  Signed,  Edward 
Southwell.  Endorsed,  Reed.  19th  Oct.,  Read  20th  Nov.,  1728. 
3  pp.  [C.O.  28,  20.  ff.  68,  69u.] 


331. 

407.] 


Copy  of  above  Instructions,     [C.O.  5,  194.    ff.  303 — 


332.  Order   of  King   in   Council.      Approving   draught   of 
Governor    Philipps'    Commission.    Signed,    Edward    Southwell. 
Endorsed,  Reed.  19th  Oct.,  Read  20th  Nov.,  1728.     1  p.     [C.O. 
217,  5.  ff.  89,  90*;.  ;   and  5,  194.  /.  420.] 

333.  Order   of  King  in   Council.      Approving   draught  of 
Governor  Philipps'  Instructions  and  representation  of  the  Board 
of  Trade  thereon  etc.    Signed  and  endorsed  as  preceding.    l£  pp. 
[C.O.  217,  5.  ff.  91,  92u.  ;  and  5,  194.  ff.  433,  433A.] 


July  25. 


July  25. 


July  25 

Hampton 
Court. 


334.  Petition  of  Assembly  of  Barbados  to  the  King.    A 
repetition  of  the  petition  of  the  Majority,  Jan.  4,  q.v.,  but  conclud- 
ing :  —  Nor    can    the    inhabitants    bear    the    necessary    charge 
either  of  buying  powder  sufficient  or  repairing  the  fortifications 
etc.  while  the  heavy  tax  which  they  have  for  so  many  years  paid 
chiefly  for  H.E.'s  use  is  continued,  by  which  tax  allmost  all  the 
current  cash  of  this  Island  is  annually  brought  together  and 
hoarded  in  H.E.'s  coffers,  trade   is   stagnated,  and  the  value  of 
the  produce  of  the  Island  is  very  considerably  lowered,  to  the 
vast  damage  of  the  distrest  inhabitants  who  are  forced  to  part 
with  their  goods  at  any  price  to  raise  their  quota  of  a  tax  not 
only  heavy  in  itself  but  much  more  so  in  regard  of  the  ill  effects 
it  has  upon  trade  and  the  marketts  in  the  Colony.  Petitioners  are 
ready  to  prove  the  truth  of  these  allegations  etc.    Signed,  Robt. 
Warren,  Cl.  of  the  Assembly.  [C.O.  28,  39.  No.  44.] 

335.  (a)   Governor  Worsley's  Speech   to  the  Council  and 
Assembly  of  Barbados. 

(b)  Address  of  the  Assembly  in  reply.  Copy.  Signed,  Robt. 
Warren,  Clk.  of  the  Assembly.  The  whole  endorsed,  Reed. 
(from  Mr.  Price),  Read,  Feb.  25,  172$.  5  pp.  [C.O.  28,  20.  ff.  97, 
98—  99u.,  lOOu.,  1010., 


336.  Order  of  King  in  Council.  Approving  representation 
of  Nov.  10,  1726,  and  ordering  accordingly  that  stores  of  war  be 
sent  to  the  Bahama  Islands,  and  that  the  Governor  be  empowered 
to  call  an  Assembly  of  24  Members  by  an  instruction  in 


166 


COLONIAL   PAPERS. 


1728. 


July  30. 

Whitehall. 


July  30. 

Whitehall. 


July  30. 

Whitehall. 
July  31. 

Hampton 
Court. 

Aug.  3. 

Lincoln's 
Inn. 


Aug.  3. 

Jamaica. 


his  Commission  now  being  prepared  etc.  v.  A.P.C.  III.  No.  151. 
Signed,  Edward  Southwell.  Endorsed.  Reed  30th.  Read  31st 
July,  1728.  If  pp.  [C.O.  23,  2.  ff.  146,  147u.  ;  and  (copy  of 
first  part  of  order,  endorsed,  Reed.  19th  Oct.,  Read  20th  Nov., 
1728)  ff.  180,  I8lv.] 

337.  Mr.  Wheelock  to  Mr.  Fane.    Encloses  Revenue  Act  of 
Jamaica  etc.  for  his  opinion  how  far  it  is  agreeable  to  the  intention 
of  the  draught  and  Instructions  relating    thereto    etc.     [C.O. 
138,  17.  pp.  245,  246.] 

338.  Same  to  the  Commissioners  for  Victualling  the  Navy. 
In  relation  to  Mr.   Donovan's  complaint  (July    22),    enquires 
whether  the    contractors    for    supplying    H.M.    ships    in    the 
West  Indies  with  rum  or  other  provisions,  have  paid  duties  in 
any  of  H.M.  Colonies  in  America  for  such  supplies,  etc.  [C.O.  138, 
17.  p.  247.] 

339.  Same  to  Mr.  Fane.    Encloses  6  Acts  of  Jamaica,  1728, 
for  his  opinion  in  point  of  law,  etc.    [C.O.  138,  17.  pp.  248,  249.] 

340.  Copy   of  Governor   Philipps'    Commission.      [C.O.    5, 
194.  ff.  421—428.] 

341 .  Attorney  General  to  the  Duke  of  Newcastle.   I  had  the 
honour  of  your  Lordship's  commands  by  your  letter  of  ye  30th 
past  to  hasten  the  dispatch  of  the  conveyance  of  the  Province 
of  Carolina  to  his  Majesty.    Explains  that  though  Mr.  Solicitor 
General  and  himself    received  instructions  from  the  Treasury 
on  13th  July  to  prepare  the  necessary  instruments,  and  there- 
upon immediately  acquainted  the  Agent  of  the  Proprietors  that 
their  respective  titles  ought  forthwith  to  be  laid    before  them, 
it  was  not  till  this  evening  that  abstracts  only  of  the  titles  of 
James  and  Henry  Bertie  and  Mr.  Hutcheson  were  left  with  him 
etc.   "  It  is  impossible  for  H.M.  Councill  to  advise  the  acceptance 
of  the  conveyance  etc.  without  being  truely  informed  of  the  state 
of  the  title,  which  in  some  of  the  Proprietorships  may  require 
particular  consideration,  there  having  been  severall  subsequent 
conveyances  since  the  first  grant,  and  some  thereof  litigated  " 
etc.    Signed,  P.  Yorke.     2pp.     [C.O.  5,  306.    No.  9.] 

342.  Governor  Hunter  to  the  Duke  of  Newcastle.     I  am 
frequently  in  straits  for  want  of  a  quorum  of  Councelers  by  reason 
of  the  distant  residence  of  many,  and  the  absence  of  others. 
One  of  that  number,  Pusey  by  name,  has  been  absent  sevll. 
years  and  so  forfeited  all  claim  to  a  seat  at  that  Board  etc.  Asks 
for  appointment  of  Alexander  Forbes,  Provost  Marshall,  but 
acting  by  Deputy,  who  is  very  well  qualified.    Continues :  I  can 
not  look  without  concern  upon  what  may  happen  here  in  case  of 


AMERICA   AND   WEST   INDIES.  167 

1728. 

my  death  or  sudden  removal.  The  generality  here  have  either 
such  an  aversion  to  or  contempt  of  Mr.  Ayscough,  and  he  a  man 
of  such  passions  and  resentment,  that  I  can  not  in  duty  or 
conscience  advise  the  intrusting  him  againe  wh.  the  adminis- 
tration. The  next  Councellor  to  him  is  Coll.  Gommersell,  a 
man  of  substance  long  experience  and  probity,  how  far  his 
capacity  may  reach  in  that  ticklish  trust  I  know  not.  So  if  a 
dormant  Commission  is  not  adviseable  a  new  model  of  the 
Council  may  prevent  the  confusion  I  apprehend  and  can  have  no 
bad  consequence.  Recommends  for  filling  a  vacancy  in  the  Council 
Edward  Charlton,  one  of  the  Judges  etc.  Has  no  grudge  or  spite 
against  Mr.  Ayscough  etc.  Signed,  Ro.  Hunter.  Endorsed,  R. 
Oct.  7th.  Holograph.  1\  pp.  [C.O.  137,  53.  ff.  74—  75v.] 

Aug.  3.  343.  Same  to  Mr.  Stanyan.  Encloses  copy  of  following 
letter  etc.  and  asks  for  instructions  as  to  Mr.  Coleman's  office. 
Signed,  Ro.  Hunter.  Holograph.  2  pp.  [C.O.  137,  53.  ff.  76, 


Aug.  3.  344.  Governor  Hunter  to  the  Council  of  Trade  and  Planta- 
Jamaica.  tions.  Refers  to  enclosed  Speech  to  Assembly  and  their  reply, 
when  they  met  on  2nd  July  etc.  Continues  :  —  I  cannot  but  say 
they  began  with  a  good  aspect  having  entred  into  many  resolves 
for  the  publick  credit  and  the  security  of  the  country  but  the 
same  was  soon  changed  by  a  bill's  being  brought  into  the 
Assembly  for  making  the  goods  of  the  produce  of  the  country 
a  law  full  tender  for  the  payment  of  debts  ;  This  bill  having  passed 
the  Assembly  and  Council  I  found  they  had  it  so  much  at  heart 
that  it  was  apparent  they  declined  doing  any  other  bussiness  till 
they  knew  the  fate  of  that  bill  (copy  enclosed).  Many  arguments 
were  used  in  the  Council  pro  and  con,  but  the  majority  having 
passed  the  bill  in  their  legislative  capacity,  Mr.  Mill  entred  his 
dissent  against  it  (end.  iv),  and  in  a  day  or  two  after  the  mer- 
chants and  traders  petitioned  me  against  my  passing  it,  markt 
No.  5.  Upon  which  I  call'd  a  Council  and  laid  the  whole  before 
them  and  askt  their  advice  whether  it  was  not  a  bill  of 
extraordinary  nature  and  consequently  such  as  I  was  forbid 
by  my  Instructions  to  assent  to  without  a  clause  inserted 
therein  suspending  the  execution  thereof  until  H.M.  pleasure 
should  be  further  known,  and  the  Council  were  of  opinion 
that  it  was  a  bill  of  that  nature  and  not  fit  to  be  passed 
into  a  law  without  H.M.  further  direction.  Upon  which 
Mr.  Lawes  delivered  his  reasons  against  the  bill  which  he 
desir'd  might  be  enter'd  in  the  Council  books  and  is  markt 
No.  6.  The  chief  arguments  for  the  bill  that  I  have  heard 
of  are  contained  in  No.  7.  Upon  the  whole  I  shall  entirely 
submit  it  to  your  Lordpps.,  whether  such  a  bill  may  be  necessary 
for  the  good  of  the  country  either  with  respect  to  the  planter  or 
merchant  and  I  must  pray  your  Lordpps.'  directions  in  case  the 


168  COLONIAL   PAPERS. 

1728. 

house  should  pass  another  bill  to  the  same  effect  next  sessions, 
what  proviso  or  salvo  may  be  requisit  to  be  inserted  in  the  bill 
in  order  to  it's  being  pass'd.  The  Assembly  sent  up  to  the  Council 
another  bill,  entitled,  an  Act  for  establishing  the  publick  credit 
with  regard  to  particular  orders  of  Council,  which  though  intend- 
ed for  the  credit  of  the  Government,  yet  the  Council  perceived 
there  was  no  provision  made  for  the  payment  of  the  intrest,  which 
the  orders  of  Council  were  to  bear  mention'd  in  the  bill,  so  they 
lookt  upon  it  as  a  diminution  of  H.M.  Revenue  and  therefore 
declin'd  passing  it.  The  Assembly  having  the  first  mention'd 
bill  so  much  at  heart  and  they  percieving  little  hopes  of  my  pass- 
ing it  contrary  to  the  advice  of  the  Council,  they  sent  me  a 
message  on  the  first  instant  desiring  a  recess,  which  I  communic- 
ated to  His  Majesty's  Council  who  were  of  opinion  to  prorogue 
them  to  the  24th  of  October  next,  to  which  day  they  now  stand 
prorogued,  when  I  hope  both  the  season  and  the  persons  will  be 
cooler.  The  Minutes  of  the  Council  and  Assembly  are  so  volu- 
minous that  it  was  imposible  to  have  them  transcribed  at  length 
to  transmit  by  this  conveyance,  but  they  shal  be  sent  by  the  next 
opportunity  and  since  the  most  material  transactions  are  inserted 
in  the  enclosed  papers,  I  hope  it  may  for  the  present  answer 
your  Lordpps.'  expectations  from  me.  The  settlements  at  Port 
Antonio  are  going  on  with  a  good  prospect,  many  orders  are 
already  issued  to  the  inhabitants,  newcomers  etc.  for  the  taking 
up  land  there  agreeable  to  the  last  Act  passed  here  (tho'  not 
yet  at  home)  for  the  settling  that  part  of  the  country  ;  I  recom- 
mend it  to  your  Lordships  to  obtain  H.M.  assent  to  that  law  if 
not  already  done,  and  nothing  could  contribute  more  to  the 
security  and  strength  of  the  settlements  there  and  indeed  of  the 
whole  Island  than  an  Engineer,  whom  I  have  long  expected  and 
who  is  absolutely  necessary  for  erecting  new  and  repairing  our 
old  fortifications,  which  is  all  that  at  present  occurrs  from,  etc. 
Signed,  Ro.  Hunter.  Endorsed,  Reed.  3rd  Oct.,  Read  13th  Nov., 
1728.  3|  pp.  Enclosed, 

344.  i.  Governor  Hunter's  Speech  to  the  Council  and  Assembly. 
Recommends  effectual  measures  to  reduce  rebel  slaves, 
the  appointment  of  an  Agent  to  solicite  their  affaires 
at  home,  a  bill  to  prevent  litigious  suits,  the  reduction 
of  the  present  high  interest  of  money  and  the  high 
value  of  current  coin,  and  repair  of  public  buildings, 
prison,  barracks  etc.  Copy.  3  pp. 
344.  ii.  Address  of  Assembly  in  reply  to  preceding.  Copy. 

\p. 

344.  iii.  Act  passed  by  Assembly  18th  July,  1728,  to  oblige 
creditors  to  accept  of  the  produce  of  the  Island  in  payment 
of  their  debts.  Copy.  4|  pp. 

344.  iv.  Reasons  advanced  by  Richard  Mill  in  Council  against 
preceding  bill.  Copy.  3|  pp. 


AMERICA  AND   WEST  INDIES. 


169 


1728. 


Aug.  3. 

Jamaica. 


Aug.  3. 

Jamaica. 


Aug.  5. 

Jamaica. 


344.  v.  Petition  of  merchants  and  traders  of  Kingston  to 
Governor  Hunter.  Object  to  above  bill  (No.  iii), 
showing  that  it  will  injure  the  credit  of  the  Island 
and  ruin  many  of  the  inhabitants  etc.  35  signatures. 
Copy.  7 'I  pp. 

344.  vi.  Reasons  advanced  in  Council  by  James  Lawes  against 
said  bill.  Copy.  2  pp. 

344.  vii.  Arguments  used  for  passing  said  bill.    3^  pp.    Nos. 

i — vii  endorsed,  Reed.  3rd  Oct.,  1728.     [C.O.  137,  17. 
ff.  110— 1110.,  113—125,  126t;.] 

345.  Governor  Hunter  to  Mr.  Popple.    I  referr  you  to  mine 
to  their  Losps.  (preceding)  for  information  of  what  has  been  done 
or  rather  that  nothing  has  been  done  in  this  session  of  Assembly 
and  the  causes  or  pretences  for  that  conduct  tho'  no  buss'nesse 
but  their  own  lay  before  them.   They  requested  a  recesse  and  I 
granted  it  to  cool  them.   I  had  one  overture  in  my  head  which  I 
did  not  care  to  offer  to  their  Losps.  in  order  to  make  that  sugar 
bill  tolerably  just.     If  you  think  fitt  to  offer  to  any  of  yr.  board 
particularly  you  may.  It  is  this.  That  the  debtor  ship  the  sugars 
at  his  own  cost  and  risque  and  draw  upon  them  at  a  certainty 
pr.  cent  by  wch.  means  the  creditor  will  be  in  a  better  state 
then  by  ye  bill  and  I  believe  none  will  decline  such  payt.  We  are 
indeed  distress'd  for  want  of  currency  and  if  ye  evil  continues  the 
bill  will  be  reviv'd  again  etc.    Signed,  Ro.  Hunter.      Endorsed, 
Reed.  8th  Oct.,  Read  13th  Nov.,   1728.     Holograph.     l£  pp. 
[C.O.  137,  17.    ff.  108,  108*;.,  109u.] 

346.  Same  to  the  Duke  of  Newcastle.     To  same  effect  as 
preceding,  enclosing  copy  of  his  letter  of  3rd  Aug.,  and  adding  :— 
By  a  sloop  from  Porto  Bello  I  am  inform' d  that  they  are  loading 
the  silver  of  the  galleons  on  board  the  fourteen  ships  of  warr  they 
have  there,  the  galleons  being  unserviceable.    Their  privateers 
continue  their  depredations.     Mr.  St.  Lo  had  sent  to  demand 
restitution  but  I  know  not  what  return  he  has  had,  etc.   Signed, 
Ro.  Hunter.  Endorsed,  R.  Oct.  7th.  Holograph.  l%pp.  Enclosed, 

346.  i.  Duplicate  of  No.  344.     [C.O.  137,  53.    ff.  70,  70i;.,  7lv. 

—73v.] 

347.  James   Wimble   to   the   Duke   of  Newcastle.    Bound 
for  Jamaica  with  produce  of  N.  Carolina,  his  sloop  and  cargo 
valued  at  £877.  145.  sterl.,  were  taken  by  a  Spanish  privateer 
from  Cuba,  off  Hispaniola  on  7th  May.   Has  made  his  complaint 
to  the  Governor  and  Commodore  here,  who  have  sent  a  man  of 
war  to  demand  reparation  from  the  Spaniards  for  the  damage 
they  have  done,  which  is  15  sail  taken  from  the  English.    The 
Spanish  Governor  refused  to  make  satisfaction  etc.    Petitioner 
who  was  born  in  Sussex  and  lives  at  Boston  is  thus  entirely 
ruined,  the  sloop  and  cargo  having  been  his  whole  substance. 


170 


COLONIAL   PAPERS. 


1728. 


Aug.  5. 

Victualling 
Office. 


Aug.  6. 

Whitehall. 


Aug.  7. 

Whitehall. 


Aug.  9. 

Virginia. 


Asks  his  Grace  to  "  favour  me  with  a  line  to  setesfy  me  wether  i 
can  recover  anything  from  ye  Spand."  or,  if  not,  to  provide 
him  with  some  small  post  in  New  England  etc.  Signed,  James 
Wimble.  Endorsed,  R.  Oct.  Addressed.  Postmark.  1  p.  \C.O. 
137,53.  ff.78,79v.] 

348.  Commissioners  for  Victualling  the  Navy  to  Mr.  Popple. 
Reply  to  30th  July.     We  have  not  heard  that  duties  have  been 
paid  or  demanded  till  now  etc.    Altho'  it  is  taken  for  granted  in 
generall  that  where  the  Islands  afford  a  sufficiency  of  rum  or 
other  species,  the  ships  are  supplyed  out  of  the  produce  of  each 
place,  yet  in  cases  of  absolute  necessity  from  bad  crops,  unfore- 
seen large  demands,  or  other  accidents,  by  which  there  shall  not 
be  sufficient  to  answer  H.M.  service,  as  was  the  case  in  1726, 
when  we   were  obliged  to  send  both  rum   and  wine   for  the 
Squadron   in   the   West   Indies   without   paying  any  duty  etc. 
We  conceive  that  on  such  emergencys  H.M.  ships  should  in  like 
manner  be  permitted  to   have   supplys   from   other  places  etc. 
4  signatures.     Endorsed,  Reed.    Read    6th   Aug.,    1728.     2  pp. 
[C.O.  137,  17.    ff.  70,  70v.,  71v.] 

349.  Mr.  Popple  to  Mr.  Attorney  General.    Asks  for  opinion 
whether  H.M.  may  legally  grant  Mr.  Donovan  a  noliprosequi 
etc.     Encloses  papers  relating  to  the  case  (v.  30th  July  etc.}. 
[C.O.  138, 17.  p.  250.] 

350.  Mr.  Popple  to  the  Commissioners  for  Victualling  H.M. 
Navy.     Enquires  whether  the  wine  and  rum,  mentioned  5th 
Aug.,  were  sent  directly  to  the  Squadron  or  first  landed  in  the 
West  Indies,  and  where  the  Squadron  then  was.    [C.O.  138,  17. 
p.  250.] 

351 .  Lt.  Governor  Gooch  to  the  Council  of  Trade  and  Planta- 
tions.   I  have  the  honour  of  your  Lordships  letter  of  the  7th  of 
May.    In  answer  to  it,  I  begin  with  giving  your  Lordships  the 
strongest  assurance,  that  nothing  shall  slip  my  observation,  and 
that  every  occurrence  from  time  to  time  shal  be  faithfully  trans- 
mitted to  your  Lordships.   I  return  your  Lordships  my  thanks  for 
approving  the  person  I  recommended  to  succeed  Col.  Harrison. 
The  reprehension  I  meet  with  in  the  next  paragraph  of  your 
Lordsps.  letter  for  the  violation  of  my  Instructions  is  what  I  very 
justly  deserve,  if  the  reasons  I  humbly  presume  to  offer  will 
administer  no  alleviation.    But  my  Lords  before  I  left  England, 
being  there  told  that  perhaps  something  of  this  kind  might 
happen,  I  acquainted  the  Duke  of  Newcastle  and  Sr.  R.  Walpole 
of  it ;    and  afterwards  told  Ld.  Westmorland  that  if  anything 
abroad  happens  to  my  advantage,  I  hoped  to  find  favour  at 
your  Lordships  Board  ;  I  can't  say  his  Lordship  made  me  any 
other  reply  than  wishing  my  health  and  a  good  voyage  :    but 


AMERICA   AND   WEST  INDIES.  171 

1728. 

the  answer  His  Grace  gave  me,  was,  that  I  might  expect  the  same 
indulgence  with  other  Governours  ;    Sr.   Robert  to  the   same 
effect.   This,  my  Lords,  was  the  method  I  took,  and  from  what  I 
have  now  the  honour  to  relate  to  your  Lordships  I  must  own  that 
I  thought  if  I  did  accept  of  such  offers  as  have  been  made  me, 
I  had  a  sufficient  dispensation  till  H.M.  pleasure  was  known  ; 
and  that  before  your  Lordships  justice,  this  action  would  have 
received  a  favourable  construction.   That  other  Governours  have 
been  thus  indulged,  the  late  Mr.  Nicholson  is  an  instance  of  it 
in  this  Colony  ;    he  had  the  same  present  allow'd  to  him  at  a 
time  when  £300  would  have  gone  as  far  as  double  that  sum  will 
do  now.     My  Lords,  the  charge  I  was  at  to  bring  my  self  and 
family  hither,  was  not  £20  less  than  the  present  from  the  Council : 
the  money  I  was  out  of  pocket  to  equip  my  self  for  this  publick 
and  expensive  station,  will  hardly  be  reimburs'd  in  five  years,  a 
long  time  to  live  in  this  country,  and  get  nothing,  and  I  do  aver 
to  yr.  Lordships  that  these  presents  were  made  to  me,  without 
my  being  by  word  or  deed  concern'd.    My  Lords  these  are  the 
reasons  I  presume  to  offer,  and  thence  humbly  hope  when  your 
Lordships  shal  reconsider  my  circumstances,   your  Lordships 
will  be  prevailed  upon  to  favour  my  acceptance  not  only  of  the 
£300  from  the  Councill,  but  also  the  £500  cur.  the  generous  offer 
of  the  people  whom  I  have  the  honour  to  govern.    I  hope  these 
arguments  will  mediate  some  excuse  for  what  I  have  done,  and 
interceed  with  your  Lordships  for  forgiveness,  which  in  my  future 
conduct  I  shall  study  to  deserve.    The  first  oppertunity  I  shall 
propose  a  law  to  be  passed  as  directed  by  my  119th  Instruction 
for  making    the    Virginia  estates  of  bankrupts  liable  to  the 
satisfaction  of  their  English  creditors.    Your  Lordships  will  find 
that  in  the  Act  passed  for  building  a  lighthouse,  care  was  taken 
to  insert  the  proper  clause.  By  a  letter  I  received  from  our  Agent 
Mr.  Leheup,  I  am  told  that  your  Lordships  have  been  informed 
that  the  tobacco  law  limitting  the  number  of  plants  to  be  tended 
by  each  tythable  is  a  great  hardship  laid  by  the  rich  on  the  poor 
planter.    But  your  Lordships  will  find  by  that  Act  a  particular 
indulgence  allowed  to  people  having  no  slaves,  that  they  may 
tend  10,000  plants  when  all  others  are  restrained  to  6,000  only. 
The  circumstances  of  the  country  make  it  very  evident  that  the 
rich  are  much  more  cramp't  by  this  law  than  the  poor  :  since  the 
former  having  large  tracts  of  lands,  have  more  of  that  which  is 
good  to  employ  their  slaves  on  than  the  poorer   sort,  who  are 
possest  of  small  quantitys,  and  who  cannot  without  destroying 
that  they  have,  afford  to  cultivate  more  of  it  than  the  6000  plants 
for  each  tythable.  And  it  has  been  found  generally  true,  that  the 
far  greater  part  of  the  planters  never  tended  so  great  a  quantity 
as  the  law  allows,  tho  by  a  miscomputation  they  imagined  they 
tended    more.      My  Lords,  the  only  persons  aggrieved  by  the 
restraint  of  planting  are  those  who  have  great  tracts  of  fresh 
land  and  many  slaves,  for  they  would  have  indeed  the  advantage 


172  COLONIAL   PAPERS. 

1728. 

of  planting  more  tobacco  on  such  fresh  grounds  and  tending  it 
more  easily  than  others  can  on  lands  that  have  been  cultivated 
before  ;  and  having  abundance  of  hands  to  employ  on  these  new 
lands,  whenever  the  price  of  tobacco  gives  encouragement  they 
can  make  much  greater  crops  than  now  they  are  allow'd  to  do  ; 
but  at  the  same  time  it  must  be  said  that  though  they  may  plant 
more  in  quantity  yet  it  frequently  proves  very  mean  stuff, 
different  from  the  tobacco  produced  from  well  improved  and  well 
tended  grounds  ;  and  tho'  it  may  sometimes  happen  that  a  rich 
man  by  the  advantage  of  his  money  and  the  benefit  of  the  prompt 
payment  at  ye  Custom  House  gets  as  good  a  price  and  by  this 
means  more  money  than  any  industrious  but  poor  planter  can, 
yet  the  rich  man's  trash  will  always  damp  the  market  and  spoil 
the  sale  of  the  poor  man's  good  tobacco  which  has  been  care- 
fully managed  :  a  mischief  which  this  law  is  calculated  to  remedy 
and  to  encourage  at  the  same  time  good  tobacco,  by  allowing  as 
much  to  be  planted  as  can  be  carefully  and  honestly  tended  and 
cured.  This  my  Lords  is  really  the  truth  of  the  case  whatever 
pretences  may  be  advanced  to  your  Lordships  in  favour  to  the 
poor  ;  for  'tis  the  rich  complain  and  they  only  are  the  sufferers. 
I  must  observe  to  your  Lordships  that  since  the  restraint  of 
planting  ;  as  much  tobacco  has  been  exported  hence  as  ever  was 
before  ;  so  that  the  law  dos  no  injury  to  H.M.  Revenue,  nor  to 
the  Planters  industry.  I  herewith  transmitt  to  your  Lordships 
duplicates  of  the  Journals  of  Council,  and  of  the  Assembly,  and 
of  the  Laws.  And  the  list  of  negroes  and  Madeira  wine  imported. 
I  have  also  sent  the  copy  of  a  letter  I  writt  to  the  Board  of 
Ordnance  with  a  list  of  all  the  warlike  stores  in  this  Colony. 
Signed,  William  Gooch.  Endorsed,  Reed.  21st,  Read  26th  Nov., 
1728.  Holograph.  2£  pp.  Enclosed, 

351.  i.  List  of  ships  that  have  imported  negroes,  Port  South 

Potomack,  29th  Sept.  1727— 25th  March,  1728.     None. 

Signed,  Thomas  Lee,  Naval  Officer.  Slip. 
351.  ii.  List  of  ships  that  have  imported  negroes,  Port  of 

Rappahanock,  Sept.  29,  1727— April  25,  1728.    None. 

Signed,  Robert  Carter  jr.  N.  Off.  1  p. 
351.  iii.  List  of  ships  that  have  imported  negroes,  York  River, 

29th  Sept.  1727— 25th  March,  1728.     One,  with  211 

negroes,  by  separate  traders.   Signed,  Will.  Robertson, 

Navl.  Offr.   1  p. 
351.  iv.  Ditto,  James  River  and  Eastern  Shore.    None.    1  p. 

Nos.  i — iv  endorsed,  Reed.  21st  Nov.  1728. 
351.  v.  Ships  importing  merchandize  from  Madeira  and  the 

Western  Islands,  South  Potomack.  None.    Same  period 

and  signature  as  No.  i.  1  p. 
351.  vi.  Ditto,  Rappahanock.    One.   Same  period  and  signature 

as  No.  ii.   1  p. 
351.  vii.  Ditto.  York  River.  Three.  Same  period  and  signature 

as  No.  iii.  1  p. 


AMERICA  AND   WEST  INDIES.  173 

1728. 

351.  viii.  Account  of  Stores  of  War  in  Virginia,  1728.  Endorsed 
as  No.  iv.  2  pp. 

351.  ix.  Lt.  Govr.  Gooch  to  the  Board  of  Ordnance  with  request 

for  stores  of  war.  Without  date  or  signature.  Endorsed, 
Reed.  21st  Nov.,  1728.  Copy.  1|  pp.  \C.O.  5,  1321. 
ff.  (with  abstract]  74—76,  77,  78—79,  80,  81—  82*;.] 

Aug.  10.         352.     Sir  C.  Wager  to  Mr.  Delafaye.  Capt.  Rogers  who  brings 
Parsons       you  this  letter  tells  me  that  nothing  is  yet  refer'd  to  the  Board  of 
Green.       Trade  relating  to  the  Bahama  Islands.     I  think  some  determin- 
ation should  be  come  to  in  that  affair ;  and  therefore  if  there 
be  anything  to  be  refer'd,  I  desire  you  will  do  it,  that  poor 
Rogers  may  be  out  of  his  pain  etc.    Signed,  Cha.  Wager.    1  p. 
Enclosed, 

352.  i.  Capt.  Rogers  to  Mr.  Delafaye.     London,  12th  Aug. 

1728.  Entreats  him  to  get  the  enquiry  into  the  state  of 
the  Bahama  Islands  referred  to  the  Board  of  Trade  etc. 
The  Duke  of  Newcastle  and  Lord  Townshend  promised 
it  should  be  done  these  three  weeks  past.  Continues  : — 
As  I  had  no  opertunity  to  explain  myselfe  to  you  when 
I  saw  you  last  at  Court,  I  hope  you'l  pardon  this  free- 
dom, since  I  am  forced  to  move  for  my  former  employ- 
ment in  a  manner  that  I  don't  chuse,  and  have  avoided 
it  as  long  as  I  cou'd,  tho'  I  tryed  to  have  my  own 
conduct  examin'd,  and  never  was  able  to  get  it  done  ; 
yet  I  am  sorry  I  must  be  a  meanes  to  examine  his,  or 
I  can't  be  restored  to  the  employment,  that  I  hope  in 
justice  I  may  ask  for.  I  wish  Mr.  Pheney's  friends  had 
not  desir'd  to  justifie  his  actiones,  since  I  am  pretty 
sure  if  they  are  known,  they  cannot  turn  to  his  advant- 
age, the  place  being  now  in  a  much  worse  condition 
as  to  people  than  it  was  seven  years  agoe,  when  I  came 
thence.  Besides  he  sold  a  company  of  Dragoons  he 
comanded  before  he  left  England,  and  had  mine  given 
him  with  the  Govermt.,  yt.  I  preserved  to  my  ruin, 
and  he  may  have  my  halfe  pay  if  he  returns,  he  can't 
think  it  a  hardship  on  him,  since  I  was  so  odly  removed 
by  surprize,  when  there  never  was  nor  I  beleive  ever 
will  be  a  good  reason  given  for  it,  nor  would  I  aske  for 
the  same  imployment  again,  did  I  not  depend  I  could  do 
ye  publick  great  service,  in  improving  what  I  began, 
and  make  it  a  place  of  consequence  "  etc.  Refers  to 
his  recommendations  etc.  Signed,  Woodes  Rogers. 
Holograph.  2pp. 

352.  ii.  Petition  of  Capt.  Rogers  to  the  King.  Prays  to  be 
restored  to  his  Governorship  of  the  Bahama  Islands,  or 
compensated  for  his  losses  and  sufferings  in  that 
service  etc.  Copy.  2  pp. 


174 


COLONIAL   PAPERS. 


1728. 


Aug.  12. 

Victualling 
Office. 


Aug.  13. 


Aug.  13. 

New  York. 


352.  iii.  Testimonial  to  Capt.  Rogers,  recommending  above 

petition  to  Sir  Robert  Walpole.  Capt.  Rogers  behaved 
with  the  utmost  resolution  and  fidelity,  tho'  to  the 
ruin  of  his  own  fortune  etc.  London,  Feb.  29,  172f. 
Signed,  John  Eyles,  Montagu  Barnard,  Gilbt.  Heathcote, 
Micajah  Perry,  E,  Vernon,  Fran.  Fane,  Geo.  Gregory, 
Hum.  Morrice,  Jno.  Lambert,  Ed.  Harrison,  Matt. 
Decker,  Hans  Sloane,  Edwd.  Southwell,  G.  Earle,  John 
Gould,  Hen.  Herring,  H.  Raymond,  Matt.  Martin,  Jos. 
Eyles,  Saml.  Winder,  Wm.  Sloper,  Edmnd.  Halsey, 
John  Hart,  Alexr.  Spotswood,  Benj.  Bennet,  Chas. 
Boone,  Saml.  Shute,  Peter  Walter.  A  copy  delivered 
to  the  Duke  of  Newcastle.  Copy.  l^pp.  [C.O.  23,  14. 
ff.  45,  49—49*;.,  51-52i;.] 

353.  Commissioners  for  Victualling  the  Navy  to  Mr.  Popple. 
Give  details  of  rum  and  wine  sent  to  the  Squadron  in  the  West 
Indies  in  1726  etc.    Conclude  :  —  In  both  cases  the  Secretary  of 
State  was  desired  by  the  Lords  of  the  Admiralty  to  obtain  H.M. 
orders  to  the  Government  of  Jamaica  to  permit  the  delivery 
thereof  duty  free  etc.    Four  signatures.    Endorsed,  Reed.  13th, 
Read  18th  Aug.,  1728.  2pp.  Enclosed, 

353.  i.  Lords  Commissioners  of  the  Admiralty  to  the  Commis- 
sioners for  Victualling  the  Navy,  13th  Oct.  1726,  with 
Mr.  Burchett's  letter  enclosing  same.  Endorsed, 
Reed.  13th  Aug.,  1728.  2  pp.  [C.O.  137,  17.  ff.  76, 
76v.,  77v.—78v., 


354.  Mr.   Popple  to  the   Board  of  Works.      There   being 
several  small  repairs  necessary  to  be  made  in  this  Office,  not 
observ'd  in  the  late  estimate,   my  Lords  Commissioners  etc. 
desire  you  will  give  directions  that  the  same  be  made  before  the 
workmen  leave  the  office.  [C.O.  389,  37.  p.  293.] 

355.  Governor  Montgomerie  to  the  Duke   of  Newcastle. 
The  Assembly  met  on  22nd  July.  Encloses  his  Speech  to  them  etc. 
and  their  resolve  to  grant  a  revenue  for  the  support  of  H.M. 
Government.   He  insisted  warmly  in  his  Speech  upon  supporting 
H.M.   prerogative,   because  the  Members  now  returned  being 
mostly  the  same  as  before,  he  feared  they  would  persist  in  their 
extravagant  resolutions  relating  to  the  Court  of  Chancery.    He 
hopes  it  will  prove  of  good  effect,  but  suggests  that  some  altera- 
tions in  that  Court  would  be  for  the  King's  service  and  the  good 
of  the  Province  etc.      Set  out,  N.Y.  Col.  Docs.  V,  pp.  857,  858. 
Signed,  J.  Montgomerie.     Endorsed,  R.  Oct.  10th.     Holograph. 
Spp.  Enclosed, 

355.  i.  Duplicate  of  No.  356. 

355.  ii.  Governor  Montgomerie's  Speech  to  the  Assembly  of 
New  York,  with  their  reply,  23rd  July,  and  their  resolu- 


AMERICA  AND   WEST  INDIES. 


175 


1728. 


Aug.  13. 

New  York. 


Aug.  13. 


Aug.  13. 

Hampton 
Court. 


tion  of  31st  July,  that  "  there  shall  be  given  to  H.M.  etc. 
an  ample  and  honourable  support  for  His  Government 
of  this  Colony  from  1st  Sept.  1728  to  1st  Sept.  1733." 
v.  Sessional  Papers.  Copy.  3f  pp.  [C.O.  5,  1092. 
Nos.  70,  70.  i,  ii.] 

356.  Governor  Montgomerie  to  the  Council  of  Trade  and 
Plantations.  Encloses  Acts  of  New  Jersey,  passed  in  the  last 
Assembly,  Minutes  of  Council  and  a  letter  from  Governor 
Burnet  relating  to  them,  and  list  of  vessels  entered  inwards  or 
cleared  outwards  at  New  York,  29th  Sept.,  1727 — 25th  March, 
1728.  Neither  the  Acts  nor  Minutes  are  abstracted  in  the  margin, 
but  this  is  not  his  fault,  as  he  never  saw  them  till  the  night 
before  Governor  Burnet  left  etc.  Continues  :  I  hope  Governor 
Burnet's  letter  will  fully  satisfy  your  Lordships  that  there  is  no 
danger  in  applying  the  5  per  cent  interest  of  the  Jersey  bills,  for 
the  support  of  H.M.  Government ;  the  certificates  he  sends  are 
proofs  that  the  bills  are  annually  and  duely  sunk,  and  that  the 
credit  of  and  value  of  those  that  remain  rises,  while  this  is  the 
case  the  art  of  man  will  not  induce  the  Assembly  to  apply  the 
interest  in  any  other  way,  and  it  will  be  a  dangerous  thing  to  let 
such  a  sum  remain  in  the  Treasurer's  hands  etc.  Concludes, 
ut  supra.  Set  out,  N.Y.  Col.  Docs.  V.  pp.  858,  859.  Signed, 
J.  Montgomerie.  Endorsed,  Reed.,  Read  9th  Oct.,  1728. 
Holograph.  4f  pp.  Enclosed, 

356.  i.  Duplicate  of  No.  ii  encl.  preceding.    Same  endorsement. 

31  pp.    [C.O.  5,  1054.  ff.  298— 302u.] 

357.  Mr.  Attorney  and  Mr.  Solicitor  General  to  the  Council 
of  Trade  and  Plantations.    We  have  considered  the  Act  of  New 
York  for  preventing  prosecutions  by  informations,  and  the  annexed 
Memorial  etc.,  and  are  of  opinion  that  the  said  Act  is  a  high 
encroachment  upon  H.M.  undoubted  prerogative  of  proceeding 
by  way  of  information,  and  of  dangerous  consequence,  and  there- 
fore not  fit  to  be  approved.  Signed,  P.  Yorke,  C.  Talbot.  Endorsed, 
Reed.  14th  Aug.,  Read  3rd  Sept.,  1728.    1%  pp.   Enclosed, 

357.  i.  Copy  of  No.  4. 

357.  ii.  Copy  of  No.  313.     [C.O.  5,  1054.    ff.  283,  283u.,  2840.- 

288,  289.] 

358.  Lord  Townshend  to  the  Council  of  Trade  and  Planta- 
tions. Encloses  following  for  their  report  and  desires  "  an  account 

of  the  present  state  of  the  Bahama  Islands and  in  what 

manner  it  appears  to  you  that  Governor  Phenney  behaves  in  the 
discharge  of  his  office."    Signed,  Townshend.    Endorsed,  Reed. 
Read  14th  Aug.,  1728.  1  p.  Enclosed, 

358.  i.  Remarks  on  the  Island  of  Providence.  3  sloops  only  and 
20  seafaring  men,  some  absent.  About  100  men  that 
can  bear  arms  in  all  the  island,  many  always  absent  ; 
difficult  to  make  a  jury  of  12  men.  If  Mrs.  Phenney  were 


176  COLONIAL   PAPERS. 

1728. 

gone,  and  an  Assembly  settled,  many  inhabitants  would 
come.  The  Governor  ingrosses  all  the  trade.  Mrs. 
Phenny  sells  rum  by  the  pint,  and  biscuit  by  the  half 
ryal.  The  present  Lessees  have  a  lease  of  21  years,  of 
which  half  is  now  expired  ;  but  have  power  to  grant 
land  for  99,  but  former  inhabitants  pretend  titles  to  the 
land  near  the  sea  etc.  that  it  requires  an  Act  of  Assembly 
to  settle  titles.  They  have  expended  £35,000  in  that 
undertaking,  building  forts  etc.,  but  some  of  their 
Agents  have  dyed,  some  been  taken  by  the  Spaniards, 
and  others  applyed  their  goods  to  their  own  use.  The 
pirates  have  been  dislodged,  and  the  island  defended 
against  the  Spanish  attack,  but  if  some  care  be  not 
taken,  the  pirates  will  plunder  and  take  possession  of 
Providence  again,  or  the  Spaniards  seize  on  it.  Bahama 
Proprietors  the  same  as  Carolina,  and  Lord  Berkeley 
added  etc.  Notes  of  Governor  Phenny's  account  of  the 
islands.  Endorsed  as  preceding.  I%pp. 

358.  ii.  Mr.  Curphy  to  Sir  Chas.  Wager.  When  your  Honour 
was  pleased  to  enquire  of  me  after  the  state  of  the 
Bahama  Islands,  and  the  administration  of  Captn. 
Phenny,  I  both  truly  and  particularly  gave  you  an 
account  of  its  present  unhappy  circumstances.  Refers 
for  further  particulars  to  one  Boswell  formerly 
Commander  of  the  Company's  trading  sloop  at 
Providence,  who  has  already  given  an  account  to 
Capt.  Hide  etc.  "  He  will  confirm  every  article  I 
have  offered  in  regard  to  the  male  proceedings  of 
that  Governor,  whose  conduct  only  has  caused  it  to 
be  forsaken  by  all  that  were  in  any  capacity  of  going 
off  from  that  island."  Signed,  Tho.  Curphy.  Same 
endorsement.  Copy.  1  p. 

358.  iii.  Mr.  Curphy  to  Mr.  Hughes.  June  28,  1728.  Gives 
an  account  of  the  circumstances  of  the  execution  of 
John  Wadsworth.  Enclosed  in  following.  Signed, 
Tho.  Curphy.  Same  endorsement.  Copy.  3  pp. 

358.  iv.  Edward  Hughes,  Judge  Advocate  General,  to  the 
Duke  of  Newcastle.  Horse  Guards,  July  28,  1728. 
I  think  it  my  duty  to  lay  before  your  Grace  the  cruel 
and  unlawful  proceedings  of  Capt.  George  Phenney 
of  an  Independant  Company  at  Providence.  In 
1722  a  court-martial  was  held  there,  when  John 
Wadsworth  was  tried  for  desertion.  The  Court  was 
composed  of  Capt.  Phenney,  Lt.  John  Howell,  contrary 
to  the  Act  of  Parliament  which  appoints  the  President 
not  to  be  under  the  degree  of  a  field  officer  and  not 
less  than  12  other  commission  officers.  Wadsworth 
was  condemned  and  the  proceedings  confirmed  by 
the  Lords  Justices,  but  I  refused  to  grant  a  warrant 


AMERICA   AND   WEST  INDIES. 


177 


1728. 


Aug.  14. 


Aug.  14. 

Whitehall. 


for  his  execution  on  finding  the  illegality  of  the 
proceedings.  In  less  than  a  month  after  my  refusal, 
a  letter  came  from  Governor  Phenney  recommending 
him  for  mercy,  and  the  first  Clerk  of  the  War  Office 
informed  me  H.M.  had  pardoned  Wads  worth,  who 
had  been  18  months  in  a  dungeon  underground. 
Lately  at  the  War  Office  a  Chaplain  informed  me 
that  the  Governor  had  born  the  poor  man  a  very  ill 
well,  and  as  he  found  he  could  not  try  him  by  martial 
law,  he  appointed  his  Lieut.,  John  Howell  Attorney 
General  and  another  officer  Judge  of  the  Admiralty 
and  a  Court  and  a  Jury  of  old  pyrats  and  mulattoes 
(for  there  is  few  others  on  the  Island,  driven  away 
by  the  unheard  of  cruelty's  of  the  Govr.)  and  they 
proceeded  to  try  Wadsworth  for  a  pyracy,  in  that 
he  took  a  small  canoe  with  2  paddles  and  went  to 
some  part  of  the  island  in  company  with  one  Hart. 
Both  were  condemned  and  Wadsworth  hanged  etc. 
Asks  for  "  an  enquiry  into  the  conduct  of  this  cruel 
man,  and  for  the  murther  of  a  poor  unfortunate  gentle- 
man who  was  kept  in  the  island  on  such  a  slavery 
which  caused  him  to  desert  "  etc.  Signed,  E.  Hughes. 
Same  endorsement.  3  pp.  [C.O.  23,  2.  ff.  148, 
1490.—  1500.,  151t;.,  152,  153t;.-157i;.] 

359.  Col.  Dunbar  to  Mr.  Popple.  Mr.  Armstrong,  deputy 
to  his  predecessor,  Mr.  Burniston,  lately  marked  out  770  trees 
for  H.M.  use,  from  24  to  35  in.  diameter,  and  made  a  seizure 
of  2000  logs  of  the  same  diameter  etc.,  each  of  which  the 
inhabitants  having  cut  within  their  townships,  alledged  were 
not  within  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Admiralty,  and  that  being 
felled  they  remained  the  property  of  the  fellers  etc.  Is  informed 
they  have  been  condemned.  Is  sailing  for  N.E.  in  14  days 
and  desires  the  Board's  directions,  any  acts  or  papers  for  his 
instruction  ;  and  the  limits  of  Nova  Scotia,  since  there  is  a 
large  country  lying  waste  between  it  and  New  England,  upon 
which  grows  the  best  timber.  Unless  this  is  esteemed  part  of 
Nova  Scotia,  as  it  was  when  the  French  had  it,  he  will  want 
power  to  mark  out  there  any  of  the  200,000  trees  to  be  reserved 
for  H.M.  use.  Signed,  David  Dunbar.  Enclosed,  Reed.  13th 
(sic.),  Read  28th  Aug.,  1728.  Holograph.  2  pp.  [C.O.  5, 
870.  ff.  119,  119t;., 


360.  Council  of  Trade  and  Plantations  to  the  Duke  of 
Newcastle.  Enclose  following. 

360.  i.  Same  to  the  King.     Enclose  following. 

360.  ii.  Draught  of  Instruction  for  Governor  Philipps 
relating  to  the  observance  of  the  Acts  of  Trade  and 
Navigation.  In  the  usual  form.  [C.O.  218,  2.  pp. 
120,  121.] 

C.P.XXXVI—  12 


178 


COLONIAL   PAPERS. 


1728. 
Aug.  14. 

Whit  oil  all. 


Aug.  14. 

Barbados. 


361.  Council  of  Trade  and  Plantations  to  the  Duke  of 
Newcastle.  Enclose  following  to  be  laid  before  the  King. 
Autograph  Signatures.  1  p.  Enclosed, 

361.  i.  Draughts  of  H.M.  Warrants  to  the  Governors  of  the 

Massachusets  Bay,  New  Hampshire,  New  Jersey  and 
Bermuda,  empowering  them  to  use  the  new  Seals 
(described),  and  requiring  them  to  return  the  old 
Seals  to  be  defaced  etc.  [C.O.  5,  4.  Nos.  34,  34. 
i-iv  ;  and  5,  916.  pp.  170-174.] 

362.  Governor  Worsley  to  the  Duke  of  Newcastle.    Encloses 
following  Address.     Continues  : — After  it  was  read  in  Council, 
I  ordered  an  Address  to  be  read  of  the   General  Assembly, 
16th  Feb.  1720  ;    in  which  there  are  these  words,    "  We  cannot 
express  the   discontents  occasioned  by  those   charges,   which 
tend  apparently  to  revive,   and  support  an   expiring  faction 
among  us,  who  are  known  enemies  to  the  peace  of  their  countrey, 
and  have  been  always  suspected  of  disaffection  to  your  Majesty, 
and  your  Royal  House."     I  must  also  beg  leave  to  observe  to 
your  Grace  a  particular  passage  in  the  Address  of  the  present 
Assembly,    "  Or  redressing  any  grievances  the  people  labour 
under."     Upon  this  head  I  had  the  honour  to  observe  to  your 
Grace,  4th  Aug.  1727,  that  the  Assembly  thought  themselves 
upon  the  same  foot  as  the  Parliament  of  Great  Britain,  and 
they  have  for  these  many  years  aimed  at  it ;     on  9th  Aug. 
1698,  an  Act  was  passed  here,  to  declare  and  ascertain  the  rights 
and  powers  of  the  General  Assembly.     But  the   18th  of  May 
following  King  William  repealed  that  Act,  so  that  I  can't  be 
enough  surprised  to  find  them  attempt  it  again.     In  the  last 
paragraph  of  their  Address  to  me  they  say,    "  We  shall  loose 
no  time  in  passing  the  Excise  bill  recommended  to  us,  nor  shall 
we  be  wanting  to  propose  all  such  other  bills  as  in  our  humble 
apprehensions  shall  tend  to  the  publick  peace,   welfare,  and 
good  Government  of  the  Island,   with  dutiful  regard  to  the 
honour  and  dignity  of  the  Crown."     And  at  the  same  time, 
as  your  Grace  will  observe  by  a  copy  of  their  Excise  bill,  which 
I  have  sent  your  Grace  inclosed,  tho'  not  yet  passed  the  Council, 
they  have  shewn  very  little  regard  to  the  Crown,  and  would 
encroach  upon  the  King's  prerogative,  as  is  evident  from  the 
several  provisions  they  have  now  put  in  this  Excise  bill  :    "  That 
a  particular  account  of  all  such  necessaries  and  utensils  be  first 
laid  before  the  Assembly  to  be  by  them  inspected,  regulated, 
and  approved  of,  and  they  thereon  address  the  Governor  etc., 
and    Council   for   the   payment   thereof ;     and   the    Treasurer 
for  the  time  being  is  hereby  strictly  enjoyned  and  required 
not  to  pay  or  allow  of  any  order  or  orders  that  shall  be  granted 
or  obtained  for  the  payment  of  such  necessarys  and  utensils, 
unless  such  order  or  orders  be  obtained  in  manner  aforesaid, 
and  the  Committee  of  publick  accounts  for  the  time  being  is 


AMERICA   AND   WEST   INDIES.  179 

1728. 

hereby  strictly  required  and  enjoyned,   not  to  allow  of  any 
order  or  orders  that  shall  be  granted  or  obtained  for  the  pay- 
ment of  such  necessarys  or  utensils,  unless  the  same  be  obtained 
in  manner  aforesaid,   to  the  credit  of  the  Treasurer  for  the 
time  being,  upon  his  accounting  with  them,  any  law,  usage,  or 
custome  to  the  contrary  notwithstanding."     For  keeping  the 
Magazine  buildings  in  repair,    "  for  which  no  summ  or  summs 
of  money  shall  be   paid  to  any  person   or  persons  whatsoever 
by  the  Treasurer  for  the  time  being,  on  any  order  or  orders 
that  shall  be  hereafter  past,  but  such  only  as  shall  be  addressed 
for  by  the  General  Assembly,  and  obtained  in  the  same  manner 
as  is  herein  before  appointed  in  this  clause,  nor  shall  they, 
or  any  of  them,  be  allowed  of  by  the  Committee  of  publick 
accounts   to   the   credit   of  the   Treasurer,   on   his   accounting 
with  them  "    etc.     An  attempt  of  this  nature  was  never  yet 
made    before    in    this    Island,    and    contrary    to    H.M.    34th 
Instruction  to  me,  and  having  notice  thereof,  before  the  bill 
was  read  the  second  time  for  passing,  I  sent,  by  the  Provost 
Marshall,   an  authentick  copy  of  the  said  Instruction  to  be 
laid  before  the  Assembly,  yet  they  had  no  regard  to  it,  and 
passed  the  bill  the  second  time,  and  sent  it  to  the  Council, 
and  upon  perusing  the  bill,  finding  that  it  was  not  drawn  so 
carefully  but  that  it  clashed  with  some  other  of  H.M.  Instruc- 
tions ;    before  the  bill  was  read  in  Council,  fearing  least  they 
might  likewise  pass  it,  I  told  them  that  they  were  H.M.  Council 
in  this  Island,  and  that  they  might  not  be  ignorant  of  H.M. 
commands,  I  had  ordered  the  Clerke  to  lay  before  them  H.M. 
15th,  16th,  21st  and  34th  Instruction  to  me.     Upon  which  the 
Council  made  amendments  to  the  bill  nemine  contradicente, 
which,  with  the  bill,  were  sent  down  to  the  Assembly  etc.     Refers 
to    enclosed   Minutes    of   Council.     Continues : — To    which   the 
Assembly  disagreed,  and  desired  a  conference  with  the  Council, 
which  the  Council  agreed  to  the  next  day,  and  a  Committee 
was  appointed  to  confer  with  a  Committee  of  the  Assembly, 
and  after  the  Conference  was  over,  the  Committee  of  the  Council 
made  their  report  to  the  Council,   and  sent  it  down  to  the 
Assembly,  and  at  the  same"  time  desired  to  know  if  what  they 
had  therein  reported  to  the  Council,  were  their  reasons  for  not 
concurring  with  the   Council  in  their  said  amendments,  and 
if  there  was  anything  added,  or  diminished,  that  they  would 
set  it  right,  and  return  it  in  writing,  and  then  the  Council  would 
return    an    answer    thereto    etc.    (v.    Minutes    of   Council    and 
Assembly).     I  must  now  beg  leave  to  make  some  observations 
from  the  Minutes  of  the  present  Assembly  ;    On  the  13th  of 
July,  the  first  day  they  met,  they  sent  two  Members  to  me 
to  know  to  what  time  they  should  adjourn,  but  have  since 
that  adjourned  of  their  own  accord  ;    In  their  Minutes  of  the 
25th  past  they  agreed  to  a  petition  to  H.M.  of  grievances, 
and  tho'  it  passed  the  House,  yet  it  was  not  ordered  to  be 


180  COLONIAL   PAPERS. 

1728. 

entered  in  their  Minutes,  so  that  I  can't  have  a  sight  of  it,  but 
I  am  told  it  is  much  the  same  they  sent  last  year,  when  thirteen 
of  them  met  together  tho'  they  were  then  prorogued ;  In  the 
Minutes  of  the  5th  instant,  they  chose  a  new  Speaker,  and 
Collo.  Peers  was  chose  nemine  contradicente,  indeed  I  had 
approved  of  him  before  at  the  beginning  of  the  Sessions,  but 
yet  I  think  they  ought  to  have  known  if  I  would  approve  of 
him,  their  custome  is  to  choose  a  new  Speaker  after  every 
four  sittings  ;  In  the  Minutes  of  the  same  day  they  have  passed 
a  bill  to  exclude  the  Members  of  the  General  Assembly  from 
certain  offices  civil  and  military,  which  was  rejected  last  year. 
In  the  Minutes  of  the  8th  of  August,  there  is  somthing  very 
particular  in  Mr.  McMahon's  Speech,  "  that  they  could  not 
with  any  regard  to  the  rights,  properties,  or  libertys  of  the 
people  they  represent,  recede  from  what  they  had  proposed 
and  agreed  to  in  the  said  bill."  The  same  Gentleman  makes 
an  observation  upon  me,  which  indeed  proceeded  from  a 
mistake  in  the  Clerk  of  the  Council,  in  minuting,  that  the 
report  was  made  to  me  and  the  Council,  tho'  I  did  no  ways 
vote  with  them,  and  only  appointed  the  Committee,  which 
the  Council  told  me  I  ought  to  do,  and  it  has  always  been 
the  practice  upon  the  passing  of  all  bills,  for  the  Governor  to 
be  present,  and  whenever  the  prerogative  of  the  Crown 
interferes  with  the  interest  of  these  people,  it  may  not  be 
thought  unnecessary,  especially  since  the  Assembly  say  upon 
this  head,  that  their  interest,  and  that  of  the  Council,  is  all 
one  ;  (v.  Report  of  Committee  of  Council).  I  am  at  a  loss  to 
know  what  they  mean  by  the  rights,  properties,  and  liberties 
of  the  people  ;  in  this  very  strain  they  talk't  last  year,  and 
how  far  they  may  carry  it  I  can't  tell.  I  think  they  have  none 
but  what  appears  in  H.M.  Commission  and  Instructions  to  his 
Governour,  and  I  am  induced  to  believe  it,  not  only  from  the 
repeal  of  an  Act  to  ascertain  the  rights  and  powers  of  the  General 
Assembly,  as  abovementioned,  but  also  from  the  repeal  of  an 
Act  passed  1697,  for  the  better  securing  the  liberties  of  H.M. 
subjects  etc.,  which  is  the  very  same  as  the  Habeas  Corpus  Act 
in  England,  and  was  repealed  the  9th  of  July,  1702,  tho'  they 
do  enjoy  the  benefit  of  it  by  H.M.  Instructions  to  the  Governour. 
The  12th  instant  the  Assembly  sat,  and  taking  into  consideration 
the  Council's  message  in  relation  to  the  Committee  of  Council's 
report  etc.  (supra]  they  ordered  that  a  copy  of  their  Minutes 
relating  to  the  Excise  bill,  should  be  forthwith  delivered  to  the 
Clerk  of  the  Council,  and  the  Council  sitting  the  next  day,  it  was 
laid  before  them,  by  which  your  Grace  will  see,  that  the  Assembly 
insist  upon  having  given  full  and  weighty  reasons  to  the 
Committee  of  the  Council,  for  their  disagreeing  to  their  amend- 
ments to  the  Excise  bill,  and  that  the  Committee  of  Council  had 
not  reported  their  reasons  to  the  Council,  as  they  were  urged, 
and  that  they  were  ready  to  confer  with  the  Council  on  the 


AMERICA   AND   WEST   INDIES. 


181 


1728. 


Excise  bill,  and  their  amendments  which  they  had  disagreed  to ; 
After  the  said  Minutes  were  read,  the  Council  sent  a  message 
to  the  Assembly  in  the  words  following  : — "  The  Council  having 
observed  by  the  Minutes  of  the  Assembly,  that  the  Gentlemen 
of  that  House  had  suggested,  that  the  Committee  of  the  Council 
appointed  to  confer  with  them  about  the  amendments  made 
to  the  Excise  bill,  had  misrepresented  their  meaning  in  several 
particulars,  have  resolved,  in  order  to  prevent  any  misunder- 
standing for  the  future,  and  to  shew  their  readiness  to  joyn 
with  them  in  everything  that  is  consistent  with  their  duty, 
and  the  publick  good,  that  they  will  draw  up  their  reasons 
in  writing  for  making  such  amendments  (for  which  purpose 
they  have  appointed  a  Committee)  and  that  a  copy  of  such 
their  reasons  should  be  sent  to  them  etc.  But  as  I  believe  the 
Assembly  will  not  agree  to  the  amendments  of  the  Council, 
I  am  afraid  they  will  not  pass  another  Excise  bill,  tho'  I  should 
prorogue  them  (as  I  guess  I  shall  be  obliged  to  do)  after  such  a 
manner  as  the  Council  can  pass,  or  I  give  my  assent  to,  until 
H.M.  commands  in  relation  to  these  amendments  shall  be 
signified  ;  and  what  makes  me  the  more  apprehensive  of  it 
is,  that  the  same  notions  of  the  rights,  libertys  and  properties 
of  the  people  are  almost  universally  imbib'd  by  the  inhabitants 
of  this  Island.  P.S.  The  Amendments  of  the  Council  to  the 
Excise  bill  are  in  the  Minutes  of  the  6th  inst.  etc.  Signed, 
Henry  Worsley.  Endorsed,  Rd.  Oct.  8th.  13  pp.  Enclosed, 

362.  i.  Excise  bill  as  passed  by  the  Assembly,  25th  July, 
1728.     Copy.     27%  pp.     [C.O.  28,  44.     No.  122  (covering 

letter  only)  ;    and  (enclosure  only)  28,  39.     No.  49.] 

Aug.  14.         363.     Governor    Worsley    to    the    Council    of    Trade    and 
Barbados.     Plantations.     Duplicate  of  preceding  covering  letter,   mutatis 

mutandis.     Signed,    Henry    Worsley.     Endorsed,    Reed.     7th, 

Read  15th  Oct.,  1728.     13  pp.     Enclosed, 

363.  i.  Governor  Worsley's  Speech  to  the  Assembly.     Pro- 

poses loyal  address  and  recommends  passing  of  the 
Excise  Bill  and  repair  of  fortifications  etc.  "  We 
cannot  be  too  zealous  in  demonstrating  our  loyalty 
and  duty  to  H.M.,  and  in  inculcating  the  same 
principles  amongst  the  people  of  this  island  etc.  Those 
only  who  have  such  principles  can  expect  my  counten- 
ance and  favour."  Copy.  Certified  by  Wm.  Webster, 
D.  Secry.  1  p. 

363.  ii.  Address  of  the  Assembly  of  Barbados  to  Governor 
Worsley.  July  25,  1728.  'Tis  with  hearts  filled 
with  zeal  and  humble  affection  to  H.M.  most  sacred 
person,  and  Government,  that  wee  the  Representatives 
of  H.M.  most  dutifull,  and  loyal  subjects  etc.  do 
acknowledge  your  Excy's.  favour,  in  giving  us  this 
oppertunity  of  appearing  their  choice  in  the  first 


182  COLONIAL   PAPERS. 

1728. 


Assembly,  under  our  most  gracious  Sovereign.  Wee 
most  unfeignedly  acknowledge  the  inestimable  goodness 
of  the  divine  Providence  in  securing  to  us  the  succession 
of  so  heroic,  so  glorious  and  so  deservedly  beloved  a 
Prince,  to  the  Throne  of  his  royal  Father,  our  late 
dear  Sovereign  Lord,  etc.,  from  whose  royal  influence 
only  wee,  in  common  with  his  other  subjects  can 
hope  for  the  security  of  our  libertys  and  the  enjoy- 
ment of  our  religious  and  civil  rights.  These,  may  it 
please  your  Excellency,  are  the  well  known  sentiments, 
not  only  of  ourselves,  but  of  all  the  inhabitants  of  this 
Island  whom  wee  represent,  who  have  never  omitted 
laying  hold  of  any  occasion  to  demonstrate  to  the  world 
their  loyalty,  and  duty  to  H.M.,  and  the  sincere  warm 
affection,  long  since  kindled  in  their  bosoms,  in  favour 
of  a  Protestant  King,  in  preference  to  a  popish  Pre- 
tender ;  and  therefore  'tis  matter  of  surpriz  and 
affliction  to  us  to  observe  in  your  Excellency's  Speech, 
an  insinuation,  as  if  some  among  us,  or  the  people 
wee  represent  were  wanting  in  principles  founded  in 
loyalty,  or  duty  to  so  excellent  a  monarch.  Sure  wee 
are,  a  charge  of  this  nature,  as  it  has  no  foundation, 
will  find  credit  nowhere  ;  nor  shall  such  a  misrepre- 
sentation have  any  other  effect  on  our  conduct  than 
to  incite  us  by  a  constant  persevering  in  the  same 
principles,  wee  have  hitherto  profest,  and  acted  by, 
ever  full  of  loyalty  duty  and  affection  to  his  present 
Majesty,  to  satisfy  the  world  that  wee  have  no  ways 
deserved  it,  and  that  however  wanting  wee  may  be 
in  other  respects  wee  are  not  behind  any  of  H.M. 
subjects  in  loyalty  duty  and  affection  to  him.  Wee 
now  beg  leave  to  assure  your  Excellency  that  if  wee 
are  not  obstructed  by  long  adjournments  and 
prorogations,  wee  shall  chearfully  enter  on  the  publick 
business,  and  dispatch  it  with  the  utmost  application. 
'Tis  with  concern  wee  are  forced  to  appeal  to  the 
Minutes  of  ye  last  Assembly  for  a  proof  of  the  many 
unhappy  consequences  frequent  prorogations  may 
be  attended  with  in  respect  to  the  prosperity  and 
welfare  of  this  poor  island,  by  preventing  the  repre- 
sentative body  from  even  proposing  any  advantages 
to  trade  or  redressing  any  grievances  the  people 
labour  under.  And  as  the  ruinous  condition  of  the 
forts,  batterys  and  fortifications  must  give  the 
inhabitants  dismal  apprehensions  of  greater  calamities 
than  they  have  yet  felt,  at  a  time  especially  when 
our  enemies  the  Spaniards  have  taken  our  ships  in 
the  latitude,  wee  cannot  may  it  please  your  Excellency, 
but  humbly  represent  to  you  that  unless  effectual 


AMERICA   AND   WEST   INDIES.  183 

1728. 

methods  may  speedily  be  pointed  out  and  provision 
made  for  repairing  them,  wee  shall  of  all  H.M.  subjects 
in  the  Collonys  be  most  exposed  to  ruin  and  desolation. 
And  as  it  becomes  us  from  the  trust  reposed  in  us  by 
the  People,  not  to  conceal  from  your  Excellency  the 
true  state  of  their  condition,  wee  humbly  take  leave 
further  to  represent  to  your  Excellcy.  that  the  large 
tax  which  the  inhabitants  have  been  obliged  for 
several  years  past  to  pay  for  your  Excy's  use  (the 
payment  whereof  brings  almost  the  whole  currt. 
cash  of  this  Island  yearly  into  your  Excy.'s  coffers, 
and  thereby  in  great  measure  stagnates  trade,  and 
at  the  same  time  lowers  the  value  of  all  our  countrey 
produce)  hath  so  reduced  them,  and  drained  the 
island  that  they  cannot  support  the  load  of  any  new 
impositions  (the  annual  excise  excepted)  and  therefore 
if  that  heavy  tax  be  continued,  unless  your  Excellency 
will  for  the  dignity  of  the  Government,  apply  a 
reasonable  proportion  thereof  towards  the  repair  of 
the  forts,  batterys  and  fortifications  they  must,  for 
some  time  at  least,  remain  in  the  wretched  condition 
they  are  now  in  etc.  Wee  shall  lose  no  time  in  passing 
the  Excise  bill,  nor  shall  we  be  wanting  to  propose 
all  such  other  bills  as  in  our  humble  apprehensions 
shall  tend  to  the  publick  peace,  welfare  and  good 
Government  of  the  Island,  with  dutyfull  regard  to 
the  honour  and  dignity  of  the  Crown.  Signed,  Robt. 
Warren,  Cl.  of  the  Assembly.  Endorsed,  Read  7th 
Oct.,  1728.  Copy.  3f  pp. 

363.  iii.  Address  of  the  Assembly  of  Barbados  to  the  (late) 
King.  16th  Feb.,  1720.  Complain  of  the  measures 
taken  by  President  Sharpe  to  encourage  the  enemies 
of  H.M.  House  and  permission  of  trade  with  the 
French,  and  of  his  continual  adjournments  of  the 
House  etc.  Signed,  Edmund  Sutton,  Speaker  and 
19  others.  Endorsed  as  preceding.  Copy.  3  pp. 

363.  iv.  Duplicate  of  No.  362  i.     Same  endorsement.     [C.O. 

28,  20.    ff.  2-8,  9v.,  10,  ll-12z;.,   13i;.-16,  17^30^.] 

Aug.  15.         364.     Order   of    King    in    Council.      Approving    represent- 

Hampton     ation   of  Board  of  Trade,  and  ordering  that  the  Governor  of 

Court.        Barbados  recommend  the  Assembly  to  make  immediate  payment 

of  what  is  found  due  to  Mr.  Whitworth  for  his  fees  as  Secretary, 

and  for  the  future  etc.      Set  out,  A.P.C.   Ill,   No.   154.     q.v. 

Signed,    Ja.    Vernon.     Ifrd  pp.     Endorsed,  Reed.   19th  Oct., 

Read  20th  Nov.,  1728.     If  pp.     Enclosed, 

364.  i.  Account  of  fees  due  to  Mr.  Whitworth  as  Secretary 

of  Barbados.  Total,  £1333  125.  Qd.  Signed,  Frans. 
Whitworth.  2|  pp.  [C.O.  28,  39.  Nos.  45,  45  i  ; 
and  (without  enclosure)  28,  20.  ff.  70,  70u.,  71i>.] 


COLONIAL   PAPERS. 


1728. 
[Aug.  15.] 


Aug.  20. 


Aug.  20. 

Barbados. 


365.  (1)  Order  of  Council,  28th  March,  with  instructions 
to  Col.  Dunbar.     Copy.     2|  pp. 

(2)  Order  by  the   Lords   Commissioners   of  H.M.   Treasury 
upon  above.     Copy.     2  pp. 

(3)  H.M.  Instructions  to  David  Dunbar,  Surveyor  General 
of  the  Woods  on  the  Continent  of  America.     Richmond.     13th 
June,  1728.     Copy.     6  pp. 

(4)  H.M.  Warrant  for  salaries  for  Col.  Dunbar  (for  marking 
the   200,000  acres   in   Nova   Scotia)   £200  ;     and  his  deputies 
(£100  each)  25th  June,   1728.     And  for  two  deputies,  ships- 
carpenters,   £100  each,   and  £200  for  assistant  surveyors  etc. 
Richmond.     25th     June,     1728.     Copy.     5     pp.     The     whole 
endorsed,     Copys  from  the  originals  reed,  from  Col.  Dunbar, 
15th  Aug.,   Read  20th  Nov.,   1728.     [C.O.   323,   8.     Nos.   97, 
97  i-ii.] 

366.  Mr.   Attorney  General  to  the  Council  of  Trade  and 
Plantations.     Reply   to   6th   Aug.     Concludes  : — No   proof  has 
been  laid  before  me  of  the  facts  contained  in  the  said  papers, 
and   therefore   the  following    opinion    proceeds    only   upon    a 
supposition  that  they  are  represented  in  a  true  light  etc.     I 
conceive  that  the  prosecution  against  Mr.  Donavan  being  for 
the  duty  charged  by  the  Act  of  Assembly  of  1724  upon  rum, 
and  not  for  any  penalty  thereby  inflicted,  none  of  the  clauses 
inserted  in  either  of  the  said  Acts  for  excluding  the  power  of  the 
Crown  to  grant  nolle  prosequVs  in  the  cases  of  penalties  do 
extend  to  this  case,  and  altho'  the  said  duty  is  appropriated 
towards  the  support  of  the  Government  of  the  said  Island, 
yet  I  apprehend  H.M.  may  properly  judge,  upon  circumstances 
laid  before  him,  how  far  it  is  reasonable  to  permit  his  officer 
to  carry  on  a  prosecution  in  H.M.  name  for  the  recovery  of 
the  said  duty  in  a  particular  instance  ;     wherefore  I  am  of 
opinion  that,  as  the  circumstances  of  this  case  are  represented, 
H.M.  may  lawfully  order  his  Attorney  General  to  stay  pro- 
ceedings   and    enter  a  nolle  prosequi  etc.     Signed,   P.   Yorke. 
Endorsed,  Reed.  24th,  Read  28th  Aug.,  1728.     2f  pp.   Enclosed, 

366.  i.  List  of  papers  referred  and  returned  (6th  Aug.).     1  p. 

[C.O.  137,  17.    ff.  72-73,  74,  75v.] 

367.  Governor    Worsley   to  the  Duke  of  Newcastle.     The 
Assembly,  upon  the  message  the  Council  sent  them  (v.  14th 
Aug.),  came  to  the  following  resolutions,     (i)  That  the  delays 
given  to  the  passing  of  the  Excise  bill,  are  unpresidented,  and 
the  matters  or  amendments  insisted  upon,  are  no  wise  reason- 
able,  but  tend  to  the  manifest  injury  and  prejudice  of  the 
people  in  general,  and  to   the   infringement   of  the   rights   of 
this  House,  which  in  the  end,  must  not  only  prove  of  ill  conse- 
quence to  H.M.  interest,  and  Government,  by  the  neglect  of 
providing  for  the  payment  of  the  matrosses,  and  the  repairs 


AMERICA  AND   WEST  INDIES.  185 

1728. 

of  the  forts,  etc.  but  to  the  great  impoverishment  of  the  people 
etc.,  in  disposing  of  publick  money  without  the  inspection  of 
the  Representatives  in  the  Genii.  Assembly,  (ii)  That  passing 
of  orders  for  summs  of  money  on  account  of  the  publick  works 
and  uses  in  this  Excise  bill,  before  such  accounts  are  inspected 
into,  examined,  and  approved  of  by  the  General  Assembly,  is 
of  fatal  consequence  to  the  people  of  this  Island,  and  their 
properties,  and  contrary  to  the  true  intent,  obvious  meaning, 
and  plain  construction  of  H.M.  most  gracious  Instruction,  so 
often  before  mentioned  in  the  Minutes  of  this  House,  (iii) 
That  this  House  in  order  to  enforce  their  former  reasons,  still 
are  ready  to  give  the  Members  of  H.M.  Council  another 
Conference,  free  and  independent,  which,  if  not  comply'd  with, 
this  House,  for  many  and  weighty  reasons,  do  continue  of  the 
same  opinion  as  when  the  said  bill  passed  this  House,  and 
therefore  as  before,  do  dissent  to  such  pretended  amendments." 
These,  with  the  Minutes  of  the  Assembly  of  the  13th  instant 
relating  to  the  Excise  bill,  were  ordered  to  be  sent  to  the  Council. 
Refers  to  Minutes  of  Council  for  these  and  the  Council's  reasons 
for  their  amendments,  "  which  were  drawn  up  by  a  Committee 
of  the  Council,  with  the  assistance  of  H.M.  Attorney  General ; 
and  the  Assembly  notwithstanding  their  3rd  resolution  afore- 
mentioned, design  to  consider  them  the  29th  instant.  By 
this  your  Grace  will  observe  what  unaccountable  notions  are 
crept  universally  into  the  minds  of  the  generality,  almost  of 
all  the  people  of  this  Island  ;  I  had  thought  of  dissolving  the 
Assembly  immediately  upon  their  passing  such  an  Excise  bill, 
after  I  had  laid  H.M.  Instructions  before  them,  but  I  was 
apprehensive,  that,  would  only  raise  a  greater  flame  in  the 
countrey,  especially  as  I  have  not  received  H.M.  commands 
upon  the  conduct  of  the  last  year's  Assembly  ;  however,  to 
undeceive  the  people  concerning  their  opinion  of  the  rights 
and  powers  of  the  General  Assembly  ;  I  have  ordered  King 
William's  repeal  of  that  Act,  which  was  the  18th  May,  1699, 
to  be  published  in  all  the  Churches  the  25th  instant,  and  the 
reasons  of  the  Council  for  their  amendments  to  the  Excise  bill, 
are  published  in  the  four  towns  in  this  Island,  which  I  hope 
will  quiet,  a  little,  the  minds  of  the  people,  so  as  to  prepare  them 
for  a  dissolution,  or  at  least  a  prorogation.  P.S.  The  duplicate 
of  my  last  letter  with  the  papers  annext,  I  have  not  been  able 
to  get  copyed  to  go  by  this  conveyance."  Signed,  Henry  Worsley. 
Endorsed,  Rd.  Oct.  25th.  5  pp.  [C.O.  28,  44.  No.  123.] 

Aug.  20.         368.     Same    to    the    Council    of    Trade    and    Plantations. 

Barbados.     Duplicate  of  preceding,  mutatis  mutandis.  Signed,  Henry  Worsley. 

Endorsed,  Reed.  25th,  Read  29th  Oct.,  1728.     5  pp.  "  Enclosed, 

368.  i.  Minutes  of  Council  of  Barbados,   17th  Aug.,   1728. 

Endorsed,    Reed.    25th    Oct.,    1728.     Copy.     20    pp. 

[C.O.  28,  20.     ff.  33-35,  36i;.-37,  39-48t;.] 


186 


COLONIAL   PAPERS. 


1728. 
Aug.  23. 

Jamaica. 


Aug.  24. 

Jamaica. 


Aug.  25. 

Tunbridge 
Wells. 


369.  Governor  Hunter  to  Mr.  Stanyan.     Refers  to  following. 
Continues : — [The   Assembly]    stand    prorogu'd    to    August    at 
their  own  request,  haveing  enter'd  into  a  tacit  resolution  to  do 
no  buss'nesse  till  they  knew  the  fate  of  their  sugar  bill  which 
by  ye  advice  of  ye  Council  I  could  not  assent  to.     I'm  afraid 
that  Mr.  Ayscough  who  it  seems  proposes  to  himself  an  interest 
in  keeping  on  foot  the  old  differences  between  the  Council  and 
Assembly  will  give  me   some  trouble,   there  is  nothing  they 
dread  here  more  than  the  countrey's  falling  again  under  his 
administration.     I    have    done    my    best    to    save    him    from 
scrutiny    in    matters    that    I    judg'd     not     material,    but    ye 
Assembly  or  ye  majority  there  persist  in  their  resolution  to 
call  him  to  acct.  in  matters  within  their  cognizance  such  as 
the  disposition  of  the  publick  money  etc.     The  remote  residence 
of  Swymmer,  Campbell  and  Stout  putts  me  to  a  strait  frequently 
for  want  of  a  quorum  in  Council  etc.     Repeats  recommendation 
of  A.  Forbes,  E.  Charlton,  and  W.  Needham  to  fill  vacancies, 
and  enquiry  for  commands  relating  to  Mr.  Coleman's  Deputy's 
proposal,  and  for  reprieve  for  Miller.     Adds  :    I  have  labour 'd 
hard  for  a  reconciliation  between  ye  Council  and  Assembly, 
but  have  not  as  yet  succeeded.     I  hope  I  may  in  time.     Some 
small  change  in  ye  Council  might  do  it  effectually  etc.     Signed, 
Ro.    Hunter.     Endorsed,   Rd.  Nov.    24th.     Holograph.     3  pp. 
[C.O.  137,  53.    ff.  80-81i;.] 

370.  Governor    Hunter    to    the    Council    of    Trade    and 
Plantations.     Encloses  duplicate  of  Aug.  5th,  and  Minutes  of 
Council    and    Journals     of    Assembly    etc.     Continues : — The 
Receiver   General's   accounts    are   incerted    at    length  in   the 
Minutes  of  the  Council,  by  which  your  Lordships  will  percieve 
the  true  state  of  H.M.  Revenue.     I  cannot  promise  etc.  any 
great  success  from  the  Assembly  when  they  meet  again,   of 
their  passing  into  laws  the   several  matters   I  recommended 
unto  them  at  the  opening  of  the  last  Session,  but  as  the  weather 
grows  cooler  so  I  hope  their  passions  and  little  resentmts  at 
one  another  will  abate  etc.     Signed,  Ro.  Hunter.     Endorsed, 
Reed.  23rd  Nov.,  1728,  Read  25th  Feb.,  1729.     If  pp.     [C.O. 
137,  17.    ff.  131,  131u.,  132u.] 

371.  Mr.   Harris  to  Mr.   Popple.     In  reply  to  20th  Aug. 
Has  not  heard  of  any  complaints  against  Governor  Phenney, 
but  has  heard  that  several  of  the  old  inhabitants  and  some 
new  settlers  have  left  Providence  because  there  is  no  Civil 
Government   or  Assembly,   though  the  want  of  it   has   been 
represented  from  time  to  time  for  seven  years.     Continues  :— 
"  I  am  told  his  wife  hath  had  differences  with  other  ladys  of 
ye  Island  but  I  am  apt  to  think  such  bagatel  storys  will  weigh 
litle  with  their  Ldps.  towards    dispossessing    one  of  ye    best 
English    Governours    that    ever    was    in    America.     Hath    he 


AMERICA  AND   WEST   INDIES. 


187 


1728. 


Aug.  26. 

Virginia. 


squeezed  £7000  a  year  from  ye  people  for  nothing,  or  can  any 
accuse  him  of  raising  contributions  of  £6000  for  passing  laws 
he  was  directed  to  pass  etc.  On  the  contrary,  hath  he  not 
built  the  very  best  fort  in  the  British  Colonies  without  any 
expence  to  the  Government  and  for  which  the  estimates  laid 
before  the  Government  amounted  to  £90  and  £110,000,  so  as 
they  were  always  discouraged  from  so  chargeable  an  under- 
taking etc.  I  think  he  never  had  any  salary  from  the  Governmt. 
other  then  what  attended  his  command  of  an  Independent 
Company,  and  I  doubt  there  is  no  better  reason  for  his  remove 
then  ye  pressing  instance  of  another  for  his  post.  In  short 
Governors  of  much  merit  being  rare  I  could  not  say  less  of  one 
so  deserving  tho'  known  to  few  and  without  a  patron  at  home 
etc.  Signed,  Rd.  Harris.  Endorsed,  Reed.  26th,  Read  27th 
Augt.,  1728.  If  pp.  [C.O.  23,  2.  ff.  160,  1600., 


372.  Lt.  Gov.  Gooch  to  the  Council  of  Trade  and 
Plantations.  Having  received  advice  that  application  hath 
been  made  to  your  Lordships  for  repealing  a  law  made  here 
in  the  year  1726  for  the  more  effectual  preventing  the  bringing 
tobacco  from  North  Carolina  and  the  bounds  in  controversie  ; 
I  take  the  first  opportunity  to  lay  before  your  Lordships  the 
reason  of  passing  that  law,  and  then  to  obviate  some  objections 
which  I  hear  have  been  offered  to  your  Lordsps.  against  it. 
As  the  people  of  Virginia  have  from  its  first  settlement  applied 
themselves  solely  to  the  making  of  tobacco,  so  they  have  from 
time  to  time  tied  themselves  up  to  such  certain  rules  in  the 
planting,  tending  curing  and  packing  of  it,  as  they  judged 
most  expedient  to  advance  and  support  its  reputation  in  the 
European  markets  ;  and  to  prevent  all  fraudulent  practices 
whereby  their  staple  commodity  might  be  depretiated.  This 
naturally  led  them  to  consider  and  guard  against  the  indirect 
practices  of  their  neighbours  ;  since  all  their  regulations  must 
have  been  rendered  vain  if  the  next  Province  was  left  at  liberty 
to  pour  in  upon  them  all  the  trash  tobacco  they  could  make, 
and  to  export  it  hence  as  the  manufacture  of  Virginia.  This 
so  much  concerned  the  Virginia  interest  that  to  prevent  it  an 
act  was  made  in  the  year  1679  whereby  the  importation  of 
tobacco  from  Carolina  and  other  parts  without  the  Capes  was 
prohibited  under  the  penalty  of  forfeiture  thereof.  This  Act 
continued  in  force  until  the  year  1705  when  all  the  Laws  of 
the  Colony  were  revised  and  brought  into  one  body,  and  then 
an  Act  almost  in  the  same  words  was  prepared  against  the 
importing  tobacco  from  North  Carolina  under  the  like  penalty 
with  the  former  ;  which  last  act,  as  I  am  informed,  was  seen 
and  approved  by  your  Lordships  before  it  passed  the  Assembly 
here  ;  but  as  neither  of  the  Acts  were  found  effectual  to  prevent 
the  mischief,  tobacco  being  still  clandestinely  brought  in  to 
Virginia  from  Carolina  and  ship'd  off,  and  there  could  be  no 


188  COLONIAL   PAPERS. 

1728. 

forfeiture  without  a  previous  seizure,  it  was  judged  necessary 
by  this  last  Act  in  1726  to  lay  a  further  penalty  on  the  seller 
or  purchaser  of  such  tobacco  which  is  all  the  alteration  this 
last  law  has  made  in  the  former  prohibitions.  And  if  the 
reasons  upon  which  these  prohibitions  are  founded,  be  just 
and  provident,  I  doubt  not  the  enforcing  the  same  by  an 
additional  penalty  will,  by  your  Lordships,  be  judged  so  too. 
I  hear  only  of  three  objections,  my  Lords,  against  the  con- 
tinuing of  this  Act.  First,  that  the  discouraging  the  people 
of  Carolina  from  making  of  tobacco  will  lessen  H.M.  Revenue. 
The  Second.  That  it  will  force  the  people  of  Carolina  upon 
manufactures  prejudicial  to  the  trade  of  Great  Britain.  The 
third.  That  it  is  unjust  and  unneighbourly  towards  the  people 
of  that  Province.  As  to  first,  I  believe  it  is  demonstrable  that 
H.M.  Revenue  is  no  ways  increased  by  the  importation  of 
more  tobacco  then  can  be  consumed  in  Great  Britain,  since 
for  all  of  that  which  is  exported  the  whole  duty  is  drawn  back  ; 
and  as  the  tobacco  made  in  Carolina  is  of  that  sort  which  must 
be  exported,  being  not  fit  for  the  home  consumption,  it  is 
plain  that  the  Customs  will  no  ways  be  increased  thereby, 
nor  suffer  any  diminution  if  there  was  not  one  pound  made 
in  that  Province.  To  the  second,  it  must  be  answered  ;  that 
the  inhabitants  of  No.  Carolina  have  been  under  the  same 
restraint  for  these  fifty  years  past,  and  yet  no  such  manu- 
factures have  as  yet  been  sett  up  amongst  them  ;  and  'tis  to 
be  presumed  that  while  they  have  other  commodities,  such 
as  pitch,  tar,  pork,  rice,  hides  and  tallow  with  which  they 
have  hitherto  supplied  themselves  by  way  of  barter  with  the 
people  of  Virginia  and  the  other  Plantations,  there  will  be  no 
danger  of  their  undertaking  manufactures  of  their  own,  where 
they  are  provided  with  very  few  materials,  and  can  be  supplied 
from  their  neighbours  at  a  cheaper  rate.  But  my  Lords,  give 
me  leave  to  say,  that  they  who  made  this  objection  did  not 
consider,  how  much  greater  inconveniencies  may  happen  to 
the  manufactures  of  Great  Britain,  should  the  inhabitants  of 
Virginia,  by  an  overstocking  of  the  tobacco  markets,  and  in 
consequence  thereof  the  lowering  of  its  price,  find  themselves 
under  a  necessity  of  leaving  off  planting,  and  of  endeavouring 
to  cloath  themselves  with  their  own  manufactures,  for  which 
they  have  abundant  more  materials,  both  for  woolen  and 
linnen  than  the  people  of  North  Carolina  can  possibly  have 
for  many  years.  As  to  the  last  objection  of  the  injustice  to 
our  neighbours  of  Carolina,  who  having  no  ports  of  their  own 
are  denied  the  benefit  of  the  neighbouring  ports  to  ship  off  the 
produce  of  their  labour.  Your  Lordships  I  hope  will  allow 
me  to  say,  according  to  the  general  rule,  that  every  one  ought 
to  use  his  own,  as  thereby  to  do  no  injury  to  his  neighbour ; 
which  will  hold  good  as  well  in  common  policy  as  morality. 
So  that  the  inhabitants  of  Carolina  have  no  reason  to  complain, 


AMERICA   AND   WEST   INDIES.  189 

1728. 

if  they  are  restrained  from  making  use  of  the  ports  and  harbours 
of  Virginia,  when  it  is  prejudicial  to  its  own  trade,  and  dos 
manifest  injury  to  its  own  inhabitants.  If  the  people  of  Carolina 
will  make  tobacco,  and  can  ship  it  from  their  own  ports,  it  will 
then  be  known  where  it  was  made,  and  Virginia  will  receive 
no  discredit  by  it ;  but  if  they  will  put  off  their  trash  as  the 
product  of  Virginia,  it  is  a  cheat  upon  the  buyer  and  the  general 
trade  of  this  Colony  must  suffer  by  it.  My  Lords  thus  I  have 
endeavoured  to  state  this  case  in  the  clearest  light  I  can,  and 
submit  it  to  your  Lordships  judgment ;  for  as  I  had  no  hand 
in  making  the  law  now  in  question,  I  am  little  concerned  in 
its  fate  whether  it  stands  or  falls  ;  only  I  should  be  sorry  to 
find  the  people  of  Virginia  disobliged  by  the  repeal  of  this  Act, 
which  has  for  a  long  time  been  judged  of  great  importance  to 
the  Colony  ;  when  at  the  same  time  it  only  indulges  a  few  in 
the  next  Province  to  employ  themselves  in  that  which  will 
bring  no  reputation  to  the  tobacco  trade.  And  indeed  if  what 
the  merchants  in  England  urge  be  true  that  there  is  more  tobacco 
already  sent  from  hence  than  can  be  vended  in  the  European 
markets  ;  your  Lordships  are  the  best  judges  whether  the 
opening  a  new  source  be  at  this  time  seasonable.  Signed, 
William  Gooch.  Endorsed,  Reed.  19th  Oct.,  Read  26th  Nov., 
1728.  Holograph.  2f  pp.  [C.O.  5,  1321.  ff.  85-86*;.] 

[Aug.  27.1  373.  Martha  Vere  to  the  Council  of  Trade  and  Plantations. 
Before  Capt.  Phenney's  arrival,  1721,  Providence  was  in  a 
hopeful  state  and  some  substantial  traders  supplied  the 
inhabitants  with  a  competency  of  provisions  etc.  But 
before  many  months,  the  Governor's  wife  by  engrossing  all  the 
provisions  brought  to  Providence  and  all  the  produce  of  the 
island  and  retailing  the  same  at  exorbitant  prices  has  caused 
half  the  inhabitants  to  depart,  leaving  only  those  who  are 
unable  to  remove  and  therefore  at  her  mercy.  After  buying 
all  the  commodities  that  island  produced,  for  voyages  home, 
she  told  the  inhabitants  that  the  Governor  would  pay  them, 
but  his  answer  was  that  he  meddled  with  none  of  his  wife's 
affairs  etc.  The  Governor  and  his  wife  inveigled  from  me  an 
indented  servant  before  his  time.  He  occasioned  the  overseer 
of  the  negroes  under  my  care  to  go  off  the  island,  because  he 
offered  to  punish  the  slaves,  whereby  the  slaves  took  such 
encouragement  that  they  would  do  no  work  afterwards,  but 
walk  where  they  please,  and  threaten  me  with  the  Grandy 
Man,  meaning  the  Governor,  if  I  should  offer  to  oblige  them 
to  it  etc.,  till  Mr.  Skinner  the  Company's  Factor  came  over 
and  took  that  uneasy  charge  off  my  hand,  sold  the  negroes  and 
let  the  plantation  go  to  decay.  The  Governor  to  prevent  my 
comeing  home  used  several  unlawful  methods,  such  as  confineing 
me  and  exacted  Chancery  Court  fees  from  me  which  he  held 
to  oblige  me  to  deliver  up  to  him  the  estate  and  child  of  one 


190 


COLONIAL   PAPERS. 


1728. 


Capt.  Gale,  left  by  will  under  my  guardianship.  Several  people 
from  Bermudas  have  attempted  to  settle  upon  Providence 
but  soon  returned,  by  reason  of  arbitrary  usage  of  the 
Governour  and  his  wife.  She  has  frequently  brow-beated 
jurys  and  insulted  Justices  on  the  Bench  and  so  hindered  the 
execution  of  Justice  that  if  any  by  Justice  have  been  cleared 
she  has  found  means  of  punishing  them,  by  afterwards  bringing 
them  to  the  whipping  post,  and  if  condemned  to  any  corporal 
punishment,  she  has  in  opposition  had  them  released  etc. 
Endorsed,  Reed.,  Read  27th  Aug.,  1728.  If  pp.  [C.O.  23,  2. 
ff.  158,  15Sv., 


Aug.  27.  374.  Jeronimy  Clifford  to  Lord  Townshend.  Asks  for 
report  upon  his  petitions,  which  his  Lordship  promised  him 
a  month  ago  to  lay  before  the  King.  Is  kept  in  a  starving 
condition  at  his  lodgings  at  Charing  Cross  through  the  wicked 
practices  of  powerfull  adversaries  etc.  Signed,  Jer.  Clifford. 
Addressed.  1  p.  Enclosed, 

374.  i.  Same  to  Same.  Aug.  [  ],  1728.  Refers  to  the 
damage  and  injustice  inflicted  upon  him  by  the  Dutch 
Governors  and  Council  of  Surinam,  amounting  to 
very  great  sums,  and  to  H.M.  Order  in  Council  in  his 
favour  July  9,  1705.  (v.  C.S.P.  1704-5.  p.  xxix  etc.), 
from  which  he  has  not  yet  been  able  to  obtain  any 
benefit.  On  7th  Jan.  last,  indeed,  Sir  Robert  Walpole 
advised  him  to  let  drop  his  complaint  against  the 
Dutch.  This  he  cannot  do,  because  he  has  been 
informed  by  some  persons  in  the  Plantation  Office 
and  other  great  men  at  Court  that  upon  the  said 
Order  in  Council  there  had  been  paid  into  the 
Exchequer  by  the  late  Queen's  private  orders  great 
sums  for  his  account,  which  with  6  p.c.  interest  may 
now  amount  to  £100,000,  which  hath  or  will  be  divided 
amongst  some  covetous  people  here  etc.  Signed,  as 
preceding.  3f  pp. 

374.  ii—  v.  Accounts  of  Mr.  Clifford's  claims  against  the 
Dutch  Proprietors  of  Surinam,  on  account  of  his 
plantation  (Corcabo)  there  etc.,  amounting  to  £241,894 
sterl.  Signed,  as  preceding.  26  pp.  [C.O.  278,  i. 
ff-  1-16-1 


Aug.  28. 

Whitehall. 


375.  Council  of  Trade  and  Plantations  to  the  Duke  of 
Newcastle.  Enclose  following  ;  to  be  laid  before  the  King. 
Autograph  Signatures.  1  p.  Enclosed, 

375.  i.  Same  to  the  King.  In  reply  to  22nd  July,  they  have 
made  enquiries  of  the  Agent  of  Jamaica,  the  Con- 
tractors and  Victualling  Board  etc.,  whom  they  quote. 
Conclude  : — We  can  by  no  means  propose  to 
your  Majesty,  to  make  the  alteration  in  the  Act 


AMERICA   AND   WEST   INDIES.  191 

1728. 

in  question,  desired  by  Mr.  Donovan,  it  having 
ever  been  the  custom  for  your  Majty.'s  Royal 
Predecessors  either  absolutely  to  accept  or  reject  all 
such  Plantation  Laws  as  have  from  time  to  time 
been  laid  before  them  :  But  having  consulted  Mr. 
Attorney  Genl.,  we  humbly  conceive  your  Majesty 
may  considering  the  circumstances  of  this  case  be 
graciously  pleased  to  grant  Mr.  Donovan  a  noli 
prosequi.  And  to  remove  all  disputes  that  may  at 
any  time  arise  on  cases  of  the  like  nature,  propose, 
that  the  Governor  of  Jamaica  be  instructed  to 
recommend  to  the  Assembly  the  passing  of  a  law  for 
exempting  from  payment  of  duty  all  stores  and 
provisions  whatever  at  any  time  hereafter  really  and 
bona  fide  imported  into  Jamaica  for  the  service  of 
your  Majesty's  Royal  Navy.  And  we  are  the  rather 
encouraged  to  make  this  proposal  because  the  same 
is  perfectly  agreeable  to  the  general  intention  of  your 
Majesty's  Instructions  to  the  Govr's.  of  all  the 
Plantations,  who  are  expressly  restrained  from  giving 
their  assent  to  any  law  whereby  the  Trade  and 
Navigation  of  Great  Britain  may  be  anyways  affected, 
and  in  our  humble  opinion  laying  a  duty  upon  pro- 
visions or  stores  for  your  Majesty's  Royal  Navy, 
would  be  affecting  our  Navigation  in  a  very  essential 
part,  and  would  in  consequence  be  a  tax  laid  upon 
Great  Britain.  [C.O.  138,  17.  pp.  251-254;  and 
(without  enclosure)  137,  46.  No.  55.] 

Sept.  3.  376.  Petition  of  Joanna  Clarke,  widow,  to  the  Council  of 
Trade  and  Plantations.  Prays  for  payment  of  arrears  (£108 
15*.  9fd.)  due  to  her  late  husband,  Samuel  Clarke,  who  served 
as  Chamber  Keeper  ever  since  the  establishment  of  the  Office, 
for  sums  laid  out  by  him  for  the  use  of  the  Office.  Endorsed, 
Reed.,  Read  3rd  Sept.,  1728.  1  p.  [C.O.  388,  79.  No.  29.] 

[Sept.  3.]  377.  [?  Mr.  Curphey's]  List  of  men  capable  of  bearing  arms 
in  the  Bahama  Islands  besides  the  garrison;  Providence  66; 
Harbour  Island,  17  ;  Islathera,  32.  List  of  20  inhabitants 
that  went  off.  Names  given.  Endorsed,  Reed,  (from  Mr. 
Curphey),  Read  3rd  Sept.,  1728.  2j  pp.  [C.O.  23,  2.  ff.  162- 
1630.] 

Sept.  5.  378.  Thomas  Missing  of  Portsmouth  to  the  Council  of 
Trade  and  Plantations.  Memorialist  believes  it  would  be  a 
great  security  and  advantage  to  encourage  the  Protestant 
Palatines  to  go  to  Carolina,  and  "as  he  hath  a  correspondence 
that  way,  and  hath  with  reputation  carried  over  a  great  many 
to  America,"  he  will  on  the  Government's  encouragement, 


192  COLONIAL   PAPERS. 

1728. 

engage  to  deliver  yearly  such  a  number  as  H.M.  shall  appoint 
and  victual  them  till  they  can  support  themselves  etc.  Endorsed, 
Reed.,  Read  10th  Sept.,  1728.  f  p.  [C.O.  5,  360.  ff.  74,  750.] 

Sept.  6.  379.  Nicholas  Trott  to  [?  the  Duke  of  Newcastle.]  Hopes 
for  encouragement  to  return  and  live  at  Oxford  in  order  to 
print  his  explication  of  the  Hebrew  text  of  the  Old  Testament. 
If  nothing  else  can  be  done  for  him,  asks  to  be  restored  to  his 
office  of  Chief  Justice,  by  a  Commission  from  H.M.  "  to  which 
place  I  think  I  have  as  good  a  right  as  any  man  in  the  Province 
hath  to  his  land."  Continues  /—For  I  had  a  Commission  from 
the  Lords  Proprietors  for  that  office  not  dureing  pleasure  but 
dureing  my  good  behaviour  etc.  Argues  that  their  surrender 
of  their  Charter  cannot  void  any  grant  made  by  them,  for  if 
so,  all  the  people's  grants  for  their  lands  are  null  and  void  etc. 
He  once  presented  to  his  Lordship  at  the  House  of  Lords  one 
of  the  printed  specimens  of  his  explication  of  the  Hebrew  text 
etc.  Signed,  Nicholas  Trott.  3  pp.  [C.O.  5,  387.  No.  83.] 

Sept.  9.  380.  Thomas  Lowndes  to  [?  Mr.  Popple].  I  having  under 
the  direction  of  the  Earl  of  Westmoreland,  been  instrumental 
in  bringing  about  the  Crown's  purchase  of  the  Carolina's,  hope 
the  liberty,  I  take,  will  not  be  looked  upon  impertinent.  I 
have  accounts  from  good  hands  that  the  Agents  for  the  Penn 
family  have  quarrell'd  with  the  Palatins,  and  have  refused 
to  let  those  persecuted  people,  to  have  any  more  land,  in 
Pensilvania.  You  without  doubt  must  know,  that  great 
numbers  of  Palatins,  have  for  many  years  gone  to  Pensilvania, 
so  that  they  have  raised  the  price  of  land  from  £65  the  1000 
acres  to  £700.  The  accident  I  mentioned  puts  a  stop  to  any 
more  of  that  Nation  going  to  that  Colony.  The  next  year  a 
great  number  of  the  better  sort  of  inhabitants  must  be  forced 
to  quit  the  Palatinat  upon  account  of  their  religion.  If  proper 
encouragemt.  was  now  given  for  a  few  familys  to  go  and  settle 
in  South  Carolina,  so  that  they  might  acquaint  their  country- 
men with  the  goodness  of  that  Province,  South  Carolina  might 
be  quickly  peopled  with  honest  planters  ;  and  that  vast  tract 
of  uncultivated  land  to  the  southward  be  let  out  at  a  better 
quitt  rent  than  has  hitherto  been  paid  either  in  Virginia  or 
Carolina.  For  the  rivers  to  the  southward  are  very  navigable, 
and  the  land  perfectly  sound  and  good,  and  not  fenny  as  about 
Charles  Town  and  to  the  northward.  And  the  timber  is  the 
largest  in  all  North  America.  I  am  well  informed  that  in  the 
last  eleven  years  there  has  gone  to  Pensilvania  more  than 
17,000  Palatins  and  the  poorest  master  of  a  family  has  by  a 
fair  computation  taken  with  him  besides  paying  the  passage 
£50  sterling,  and  many  of  them  more  than  £600,  and  they 
always  go  well  provided  with  arms.  Signed,  Tho.  Lowndes. 
Endorsed,  Reed.,  Read  10th  Sept.,  1728.  2f  pp.  [C.O.  5, 
360.  ff.  72-73v.] 


AMERICA   AND   WEST   INDIES. 


193 


1728. 

Sept.  10.  381 .  '  Mr.  Popple  to  Thomas  Missing.  In  reply  to  5th 
Whitehall.  Sept.,  the  Lords  Commissioners  for  Trade  etc.  think  the  settle- 
ment of  a  number  of  Palatine  families  in  S.  Carolina  will  not 
only  speedily  render  that  Province  of  great  advantage  to  this 
Kingdom,  but  will  also  make  it  of  great  consequence  to  H.M. 
other  Plantations  in  America,  by  strengthening  in  so  effectual 
a  manner  their  Southern  frontier.  But  as  you  observe  to  their 
Lordsps.,  if  proper  encouragement  should  be  given  to  these 
parties,  that  you  can  form  a  method  of  sending  over  such  a  number 
of  them  yearly,  as  H.M.  shall  appoint  etc.,  I  am  to  desire  you 
will  let  their  Lordsps.  have  your  opinion,  as  soon  as  possible, 
what  encouragement  you  think  will  be  sufficient,  to  induce  a 
sufficient  number  of  families  to  settle  there,  and  what  your 
proposed  method  is.  [C.O.  5,  400.  pp.  239,  240.] 


Sept.  10. 

Whitehall. 


Sept.  10. 


Sept.  10. 


382.  Same  to  Mr.  Lowndes.     Reply  to  9th  Sept.     Duplicate 
of  preceding,    omitting   words   in   italics.     [C.O.    5,    400.     pp. 
239,  240.] 

383.  Mr.   Mulcaster,  Agent  to  the  Independent  Company 
at  the  Bahama  Islands,  to  the  Council  of  Trade  and  Plantations. 
Knows  nothing  of  the  complaints  against  Governor  Phenney 
sent  to  him  by  the  Board.     Asks  for  time  to  send  copies  to  him 
and  for  his  reply.     Thinks  that  Mrs.   Phenney's  trading  was 
done  if  at  all  without  any  intention  to  exclude  others,   but 
purely  from  a  necessity  to  preserve  the  lives  of  the  garrison  and 
inhabitants,  who,  by  Mr.  Curphey's  account,  are  of  so  lazy  a 
disposition,    that    they    never   will    work,    nor   even    look   for 
sustenance  till  hunger  compell  them,  nor  buy  more  commodities 
at  a  time  than  is  necessary  for  present  support  etc.     Signed, 
John    Mulcaster.     Endorsed,    Reed.,    Read    10th    Sept.,    1728. 
2  pp.     Enclosed, 

383.  i.  Mr.  Arnold,  Clerk  at  the  War  Office,  to  [Mr.  Hughes] 

Judge  Advocate  General.  Whitehall,  27th  August, 
1723.  Upon  Capt.  Phenney's  representation,  the 
Lords  Justices  were  pleased  to  pardon  John  Wads- 
worth  etc.  Signed,  Rd.  Arnold.  Copy.  1  p.  [C.O. 
23,  2.  ff.  164-165,  167u.] 

384.  Cuthbert  Jackson  of  London  Merchant,  Attorney  to 
Governor  Phenney,  to  the  Council  of  Trade  and  Plantations. 
Mrs.  Vere's  complaint  (Aug.  27)  is  false  and  malicious.     From 
all  accounts,   Providence   was  in  a  miserable  condition  both 
before  and  in  1721,  till  the  Bahama  Society  dispatched  the 
Providence  pink,  Capt.  Woodward,  with  goods  and  necessarys. 
She  arrived  Aug.,  1721,  and  Sept.  following  the  Bahama  galley 
arrived  there  with  295  slaves  from  Guinea.     The  Althea,  Capt. 
Roberts,  arrived  with  Governor  Phenney,  Nov.,  1721,  having 
a  very  rich  cargoe  and  severall  hundred  barrell  of  flower  for 

C.P. 


194  COLONIAL   PAPERS. 

1728. 

sale.  The  Samuel,  Capt.  Hampton,  was  dispatched  with  goods 
and  necessarys,  but  was  lost  in  her  passage,  and  the  Providence 
pink  sent  again  with  provisions.  All  these  cargoes  were  sent 
by  the  Bahama  Society  and  consigned  to  their  factors  there, 
viz.,  Thomas  Walker  and  Mr.  Coheir,  and  after  Mr.  Goheir 
came  away,  to  Mr.  Walker  and  Skinner,  but  Skinner  being 
taken  by  the  Spaniards  in  a  trading  voyage,  Mr.  Innes  was 
sent  over  in  his  place,  and  Walker  dying,  Skinner  was  again 
sent  thither.  The  sd.  factors  kept  a  storehouse  and  sold  their 
goods  for  the  account  of  the  Society,  and  the  Governor  was 
supplyed  from  thence  in  the  same  manner  as  the  rest  of  the 
inhabitants.  The  value  of  these  cargoes  amounted  to  much 
above  £15,000  sterling,  not  £800  whereof  was  ever  sold  to  the 
inhabitants,  exclusive  of  the  Governor,  because  of  their  idleness 
and  poverty,  tho'  sd.  goods  were  purposely  sent  to  accommodate 
them,  so  that  the  Society  was  forced  to  dispose  of  their  goods 
by  sending  them  off  the  Island  and  break  up  their  storehouse 
about  two  years  since.  This  is  a  plain  confutation  of  Mrs. 
Vere's  assertion  that  Governor's  Lady  immediately  engrossed 
the  trade,  since  both  he  and  the  inhabitants  were  supplied 
out  of  the  same  store  for  some  years.  After  the  Society  had 
declined  sending  provisions,  the  Governor  supplied  himself 
and  garrison,  at  his  own  charge  and  risque,  from  Ireland  and 
elsewhere,  the  Hanover  brigantine  loaded  at  Cork  once  and  the 
ship  Joseph  another  time,  his  flower  he  usually  had  from  the 
Continent,  and  has  always  acted  with  that  prudence  as  to 
have  constantly  several  months  store  beforehand  etc.  Mrs. 
Vere's  assertion  that  the  Governor's  Lady  made  it  her  practice 
to  buy  all  the  commoditys  the  place  produced  to  make  voyages 
home  etc.,  must  certainly  be  false,  because  most  of  the  bark 
(which  is  the  most  valluable  commodity  the  place  produces) 
has  come  to  Mr.  Samuel  Wragg  and  others  by  way  of  Carolina, 
wherein  neither  the  Governor  or  his  Lady  had  any  concern  etc., 
and  the  platt  is  a  new  thing  there  which  has  been  wholly  oweing 
to  Mrs.  Phenney's  industry  in  shewing  the  inhabitants  the 
way  and  putting  them  upon  it,  and  a  most  inconsiderable 
quantity  has  yet  come  from  thence.  Mrs.  Vere  was  house- 
keeper or  servant  to  Goheir,  who  came  from  thence  in  1721 
being  indebted  to  the  Society  for  10  slaves  etc.,  which  Mr. 
Skinner  sold  for  the  account  of  the  Society.  This  she  calls 
taking  the  uneasie  charge  off  her  hands.  'Tis  well  known 
to  the  whole  Island  that  Mrs.  Vere  was  for  some  time  under 
great  uneasiness  and  horror  of  mind,  the  occasion  of  which 
as  she  declared,  Mr.  Curfen  both  has  told  and  can  tell ;  so 
'tis  no  great  wonder  the  negroes  would  not  obey  her  when  she 
was  not  able  to  govern  herself.  As  a  sloop  is  expected  every 
day  from  Providence  with  several  of  the  inhabitants  on  board, 
prays  the  Board  to  suspend  the  matter,  "  till  we  shall  be  able 
to  produce  unanswerable  evidence  etc.,  to  clear  a  very  worthy 


AMERICA   AND   WEST   INDIES. 


195 


1728. 


Sept.  10. 


gentleman,  to  whom  I  am  possitive  his  reputation  is  more 
dear  than  his  very  life."  Signed,  C.  Jackson.  Endorsed, 
Reed.,  Read  10th  Sept.,  1728.  5|  pp.  [C.O.  23,  2.  ff.  168- 
170t;.,  1710.] 

385.  Copy  of  Privy  Seal  for  payment  of  salaries  of  the 
Board  of  Trade.  Countersigned,  John  Wooddeson,  Depty. 
5  pp.  [C.O.  388,  79.  No.  34.] 


[Sept.  13.]       386.     Governor  Burnet  to  the  Duke  of  Newcastle.     I  arrived 

here  on  the  19th  of  July  and  published  my  Commissions,  and 

met  the  Assembly  on  the  24th  of  that  month,  and  have  been 

sitting  with  them  ever  since  in  order  to  obtain  a  fixed  salary 

from  them  according  to  my  Instructions,  but  all  the  success 

I  have  yet  had  is  to  bring  the  Council  into  those  measures,  as 

for  the   Assembly,   they   continue   very   obstinate   against  it. 

I  hope  by  the  next  vessel  to  give  your  Grace  a  more  satisfactory 

account  of  their  proceedings,  and  am  with  the  greatest  respect, 

My  Lord,  Your  Grace's  most  dutifull  and  most  obedient  humble 

servant.     Signed,  W.  Burnet.     Endorsed,  Rd.  7th  Nov.,  1728. 

Dated  by  letter  of  26th  Oct.     Holograph.     2  pp.     Enclosed, 

386.  i.  Petition  of  Sundry  Members  of  the  Church  of  England, 

living  in  the  towns  of  Rehoboth  and  Barrington  in 

the  County  of  Bristol,  to  Governor  Burnet.     Sept.  2, 

1728.     Appeal  for  protection,  three  of  them  having 

been  distrained  upon  for  the  support  of  the  Dissenting 

Ministers  of  those  towns,  and  the  rest  being  equally 

liable.     Signed,    Jno.    Bowen,    Jabez    Brown,    John 

Bullock,  Nathl.  Browne,  Saml.  Carpenter,  Jno.  Hill, 

Daniel  Browne,  Luke  Thornton,  Mathew  Allen,  Joseph 

Browne,    Charles    Carpenter,    Benja.    Brown,    Olliver 

Brown,     Isaac    Brown,     Hezekiah    Brown,     Thomas 

Lindley,  John  Butterworth,  Peter  Robinson,  Ebenezer 

Robinson.       Read    in    Council,     5th    Sept.       Copy. 

Certified  by  J.  Willard,  Secry.     2|  pp.     [C.O.  5,  898. 

Nos.   45,   45  i ;    and,  endorsement  only,  Rd.   Dec.   10, 

of  duplicate  of  covering  letter,  5,  752.     No.  36.] 

Sept.  13.  387.  Same  to  the  Council  of  Trade  and  Plantations.  To 
Boston.  same  effect  as  preceding  covering  letter.  Encloses  copies  of  votes 
with  passages  marked  relating  to  the  salary.  Concludes :  In 
justice  to  the  Council  I  must  say  that  they  are  well  inclined. 
I  intend  to  continue  sitting  with  the  Assembly  till  they  comply, 
that  the  country  who  pay  about  a  thousand  pounds  a  month 
to  the  Council  and  Representatives  by  way  of  wages  during 
their  attendance,  may  feel  the  inconvenience  of  their  standing 
out  etc.  Signed,  W.  Burnet.  Endorsed,  Reed.  6th  Oct.,  Read 
7th  Nov.,  1728.  Holograph.  3  pp.  [C.O.  5,  870.  ff.  121- 
I22v.] 


196 


COLONIAL   PAPERS. 


1728. 

Sept.  13.        388.  Same  to  Mr.  Popple.     To  same  effect  as  preceding. 

Boston.       Signed  and   endorsed   as  preceding.     Holograph.      1  p.      [C.O. 

5,  870.  ff.  123,  124u.] 


Sept.  13. 

Barbados. 


389.  Governor  Worsley  to  the  Duke  of  Newcastle.  The 
7th  instant  I  had  the  honor  of  receiving  your  Grace's  letter 
of  the  24th  of  May  last,  with  a  copy  of  a  petition  of  the  Majority 
of  last  year's  Assembly  to  H.M.  dated  4th  Jan.,  1727.  I  can 
never  sufficiently  acknowledge  H.M.  great  goodness,  in  being 
willing  to  hope  that  this  complaint  has  no  just  foundation, 
and  if  it  had  I  should  alwayes  be  unworthy  of  the  least  of  the 
honours  and  favours  H.M.  has  been  pleased  to  confer  upon  me. 
I  shall  now  consider  the  facts  in  the  petition  abstractedly  from 
the  embellishments  that  spleen,  invention  and  words  could 
make  it  :  It  first  setts  forth  that  "  to  obtain  the  redress  of 
several  grievances,  the  Assembly,  on  my  arrival  here,  were 
wrought  upon  to  submit  to  a  settlement  of  £6000  sterling  per 
annum  on  me,  during  my  residence  here  in  the  quality  of  His 
late  Majesty's  Governor."  When  I  arrived,  and  they  proposed 
to  make  a  settlement  on  me,  I  told  them,  I  should  be  contented 
with  what  salary,  they  could  conveniently  allow  ;  But  I  am 
surprised  to  find  they  should  alledge  it,  to  be  only  during  my 
residence  here  in  quality  of  His  late  Majesty's  Governor  when 
the  very  Act  itself,  which  H.M.  confirmed  etc.,  has  these  words, 
Provided  always  that  this  Act  shall  be  in  force  etc.  for  so  long 
time  as  H.E.  Henry  Worsley  shall  continue  to  be  H.M.  Governor 
etc.  and  shall  in  that  quality  personally  reside  etc.  Certainly 
by  construction  of  law,  the  King  never  dies,  nor  could  it  be  the 
intent  of  the  law,  for  in  another  paragraph  the  tax  is  granted 
to  His  Majesty,  His  heirs  and  Successors.  The  next  is, 
"  That  the  Militia  has  been  totally  neglected,  the  forts,  breast- 
works and  batterys  are  gon  to  ruin,  the  publick  stores  are 
embezled  and  wasted,  and  all  persons  in  offices  under  H.E. 
busied  in  nothing,  but  how  to  raise  fortunes  from  the  ruins 
of  the  people,  by  inventing  new  fees,  arid  perquisites,  and 
increasing  the  former  fees  and  emoluments  of  their  several 
offices."  As  for  the  Militia  it  was  setled  by  a  law  of  1697 
(v.  20th  May  last),  by  which  the  Colonels  have  got  the  sole 
command  of  them  ;  Indeed  the  Governor  grants  the  Com- 
missions, but  how  is  that  ?  after  he  has  given  the  Colonel  his, 
the  Colo,  insists  upon  having  blank  Commissions  for  the  other 
officers.  I  have  always  put  in  the  Field  Officers,  but  that  has 
been  a  heart  burning.  I  own  I  have  not  made  a  general  review 
of  them,  this  would  put  the  Island  to  a  considerable  charge, 
and  has  been  a  ground  of  complaint  against  former  Governors  ; 
I  proposed  it  in  Council  the  12th  instant,  when  the  Councellrs. 
told  me  it  would  be  very  prejudicial  to  the  inhabitants,  who  are 
now  planting,  and  therefore  must  defer  it  till  next  spring  ;  and 
then  if  there  be  ever  so  many  defaulters,  or  any  that  want 


AMERICA   AND   WEST   INDIES.  197 

1728. 

arms,  or  accoutrements,  as  prescribed  by  the  law,  I  cannot 
fine  them,  but  is  only  in  the  power  of  the  Colonels  to  do  it, 
or  remit  it ;    By  the  Act  of  Militia  whoever  does  not  send  his 
complement,  every  foot  defaulter  pays  5  shillings,  and  every 
horse  defaulter  10s.,  and  if  they  are  exercised  only  every  two 
months,  that  will  be  in  a  year  £3.  for  a  horse  and  30s.  for  a  foot 
soldier  ;    and  what  gentleman  of  a  considerable  estate  would 
not  rather  pay  the  fine  than  be  oblidged  to  keep  the  man  ; 
and  most  of  them,  either  do  not  pay  at  all,  or  compound  with 
the  Marshalls  who  collect  the  fines,  and  I  believe  I  could  make 
it  appear  that  most  of  the  gentlemen  that  made  this  complaint 
do  not  send  their  complement,  and  some  I  am  told  send  none 
at  all ;   'tis  likewise  said  I  have  suffered  several  of  the  Regiments 
to  be  without  officers  ever  since  my  arrival  here,  tho'  I  did 
then  issue  proclamation,  that  all  officers  should  continue  in 
their  posts,  but  they  are  of  such  a  temper,  that  if  the  Colo, 
should  die,  the  other  officers  neglect  the  Regiments,  as  if  they 
held    their    Commissions    from    the    Colonels,    and    not    from 
the   Governor :     and  as  I   have    heard    about    three    months 
since    that    H.M.    had    been   pleased    to    appoint    me   (by    a 
new  Commission)  his  Governor  here  ;     I   have  all  the  blank 
Commissions  ready,  and  only  waite  the  arrival  of  it,  in  order 
to  fill  them  up,  and  deliver  them  out  :    and  I  can  assure  your 
Grace,   they  shall   not   have   any  occasion  for  the  future,   to 
complain  of  their  not  being  reviewed  ;     and  I  design  every 
exercising  day  to  see  one  or  other  of  the  Regiments  exercise 
as  I  have  lately  done,  and  were  it  in  my  power  to  fine  the 
defaulters,  and  them  that  are  anyways  difficient  in  arms,  or 
other  accoutrements,  they  should  have  no  reason  to  complain. 
As  to  the  forts  etc.  being  gon  to  ruin  refers  to  letter  of  May  20th. 
shewing  that    "  I   had   always   represented  to  the   Assemblys 
their  ruinous  condition,  and  if  they  will  not  provide  for  the 
repairing  them,  I  hope  it  will  not  be  imputed  to  me  as  a  fault. 
As  to  the  embezlement  and  waste  of  the  publick  stores,"   refers 
to  letter  of  2Qth  May.     Continues  : — I  am  the  more  surprised, 
that  if  this  country  did  lay  under  such  dismal  apprehensions, 
in  case  of  a  war,  for  want  of  a  sufficient  qty.  of  powder  or  other 
stores,  that  they  did  not  make  up  the  late  Storekeeper's  accounts, 
tho'  I  order'd  in  Council  the  20th  Feb.  last  the  Committee  of 
publick  accounts  to  make  them  up  ;   and  I  did  again  recommend 
it  in  Council  to  Mr.  Lightfoot  chairman  of  the  said  Committee 
etc.     Refers     to     Minutes     of    Council.     Continues : — I     can't 
therefore  think  they  are  realy  under  such  apprehensions,  in 
case  of  a  war,  of  want  of  powder  and  other  stores,  and  the 
country  I  believe  is  now  fully  sattisfy'd  that  there  has  been 
no  embezlement  of  them,  the  several  gunners  and  mattresses, 
having   voluntarily   given   their   oaths   that   no   embezlement 
has  been  made,  and  that  the  powder  removed  out  of  the  old 
magazine,  to  the  several  forts,  is  truly  and  bona  fide  the  same 


198  COLONIAL   PAPERS. 

1728. 

powder  that  was  so  removed,  without  any  alteration  whatsoever. 
The  next  head  of  complaint  is,  "  that  all  persons  in  offices 
under  me,  are  trusted  in  nothing  but  how  to  raise  fortunes 
from  the  ruins  of  the  people,  by  inventing  new  fees  and 
perquisites,  and  increasing  the  former  fees  and  emoluments  of 
their  several  offices."  I  can't  imagine  what  they  can  mean 
by  this  ;  a  complaint  was  made  to  me  against  the  late  Deputy 
Provost  Marshal,  for  exacting  fees  ;  this  I  refer'd  to  the  Judges 
and  to  the  Attorney  General  etc.  They  made  me  the  report 
not  in  favour  of  the  said  Depty.,  who  thereupon  resigned  etc. 
(v.  supra).  If  that  Deputy  has  injured  anybody  he  may  have 
his  remedy  at  law  and  may  prosecute  him  ;  I  have  done  all 
that  I  am  impowered  to  do  by  my  54th  Instruction  :  and  as 
I  am  impowered  together  with  the  Council,  by  H.M.  38th 
Instruction  to  regulate  all  fees,  I  have  order'd  lists  of  them 
to  be  laid  before  me  in  Council  etc.,  and  on  20th  Feb.  appointed 
a  Committee  of  the  Council  to  examine  them  and  report  etc.,  but 
they  have  not  yet  done  it,  alledging  they  have  not  been  able 
to  make  a  Committee  of  five  to  meet.  If  this  was  so  great  a 
grievance  to  the  country,  surely  five  Members  of  the  Council 
would  find  time  to  meet  in  order  to  -have  the  fees  regulated. 
They  further  say  that  the  trust  and  custody  of  the  Magazine 
has  been  in  the  hands  of  William  Webster  Esqr.  Deputy  Publick 
Secretary,  and  my  Secretary,  and  principal  Agent,  on  whom 
I  had  bestowed  the  following  places  ;  Major  of  the  Guards, 
Master  in  Chancery,  Capn.  and  chief  gunner  of  the  principal 
fortifications,  Surveyor  General  and  Captain  and  Commander 
of  the  Magazine  Guards.  I  now  beg  leave  to  represent  to  your 
Grace  how  the  Storekeepers  have  always  conducted  themselves 
in  their  office  ;  they  have  always  appointed  a  Deputy  in  St. 
Michael's  etc.  Colonel  Peers  the  present  Speaker  when  he  was 
Storekeeper,  one  Mr.  Thomas  Hacket  acted  for  him :  the 
succeeding  Storekeeper  Colonel  Downes,  employed  Mr.  John 
Cornor ;  Colonel  Leslie  who  succeeded  Colonel  Downes, 
employed  Mr.  Edward  Nichols  :  Colonel  Forbes,  the  present 
Deputy  Register  in  Chancery,  who  succeeded  Col.  Leslie, 
employed  Mr.  Christo.  Fowler,  and  Col.  Leslie,  who  was  chosen 
again  soon  after  my  arrival  here,  employed  Mr.  Edward 
Freeman,  Colonel  Durousseau  the  present  Storekeeper,  who 
was  chosen  by  the  last  Assembly,  and  still  continues  ;  employs 
his  son  in  law  Mr.  William  Whitesides  and  one  Thomas  Keeling. 
The  Storekeeper  that  receives  the  stores  from  his  predecessor 
is  obliged  to  give  security  in  a  bond  of  £2000  sterling,  for  the 
faithfull  execution  of  his  office  ;  as  for  Mr.  Webster,  he  tells 
me  he  never  had  the  care  or  custody  of  the  magazine  ;  Mr. 
Freeman  tells  me  he  has  always  had  the  care  and  custody  of 
the  magazine  and  stores,  under  Col.  Leslie,  and  assures  me 
Mr.  Webster  never  had  ;  for  that  he  the  said  Freeman  did 
always  receive  the  powder  and  clear'd  the  ships  in  his  own 


AMERICA  AND   WEST   INDIES.  199 

1728. 

name  for  Col.  Leslie,  of  which  he  will  give  his  oath.  If  the 
Committee  of  Accounts  would  but  make  up  the  accounts,  they 
would  soon  see  whether,  or  not,  the  powder  has  been  embezled, 
or  wasted  :  Mr.  Webster  was  recommended  to  me  by  the 
Court  of  Portugal,  where  he  had  lived  many  years  ;  upon  his 
arrival  here,  I  made  him  Captain  of  Needham's  Fort,  and  the 
rest  of  the  forts  and  batterys  of  St.  Michael's  Division,  in 
which  division  there  are  four  under  gunners  and  20  mattresses, 
the  salary  is  £100  currant  mony  of  this  Island  pr.  annum, 
which  is  paid  in  course,  and  is  sometimes  5  or  6  years  after 
the  order  is  granted  before  it  is  paid,  and  the  perquisites  may 
amount  to  about  £70  curt,  mony  more  pr.  annum.  I  own 
I  made  him  afterwards  Surveyor  General,  for  running  out 
and  setling  the  bounds  of  lands,  which  place  is  worth  to  him 
about  50  or  £60  a  year,  and  I  think  about  2  years  ago  he  was 
Captain  of  the  men  on  guard  at  the  magazine  for  about  a  month, 
upon  the  death  of  the  former  Captain  until  I  had  pitcht  upon 
another  ;  and  I  did  likwise  make  him  one  of  the  Masters  in 
Chancery  which  post  is  worth  about  30  or  £40  pr.  annum. 
As  to  his  being  Major  of  the  Horse  Guards  it  is  a  post  of  expence 
and  no  proffit ;  and  his  being  Deputy  Secretary  and  my 
Secretary,  that  was  by  deputation  from  Mr.  Whitworth  the 
Pattentee,  who  put  in  Mr.  Webster's  name  in  case  of  the  death 
or  absence  of  Mr.  Hammond,  who  is  gon  off  to  North  America 
for  his  health,  and  upon  his  return  has  the  office  again. 
However  'till  then,  that  the  General  Assembly  may  have  no 
reason  to  complain,  I  design  to  put  in  another  Captn.  gunner 
in  St.  Michael's  division,  in  that  they  say,  in  their  Minutes 
of  the  29th  past,  that  the  offices  of  Secretary  and  Captain 
gunner  are  incompatible,  because  the  Captn.  gunner  is  to 
deliver  in  upon  oath  to  the  Secretary  of  this  Island,  a  true 
and  just  account,  of  what  shall  be  due  to  himself,  under 
gunners,  and  mattresses  ;  tho'  having  laid  it  before  the  Council, 
as  it  depended  on  the  construction  of  a  law,  it  was  refer'd  to 
H.M.  Attorney  General,  who  has  reported  that  it  is  not 
incompatible,  and  that  he  might  swear  to  his,  and  the  under 
gunners  and  mattresses  accounts  before  me  in  Council,  which 
he  accordingly  did.  The  said  petition  further  sets  forth,  that 
about  their  "  procuring  a  redress  for  some  of  their  most  crying 
grievances  with  all  the  calmness  and  moderation  imaginable, 
and  with  due  defference  and  reguard  to  me,  I  sought  all 
occasions  to  exasperate,  maltreat,  insult  and  abuse  the 
Assembly,  who,  however  resolved  to  overlook  all  indignity s  for 
the  good  of  their  country,  and  I  finding  that  I  could  not  provoke 
the  Assembly  to  return  the  ill  treatment  they  met  with  from 
me,  did  on  the  5  of  October  last  command  them  to  adjourn 
for  4  weeks  etc."  I  refer  for  answer  to  this,  to  their  address 
to  me,  and  to  their  Minutes  of  the  Assembly,  the  last  year  : 
surely  the  supporting  H.M.  prerogatives  according  to  my 


200 


COLONIAL   PAPERS. 


1728. 


Sept.  13. 

Barbados. 


duty  ;  the  not  passing  a  bill  to  exclude  all  officers  civil  and 
military  from  being  Assembly  men  ;  the  not  suffering  them 
to  choose  a  pro  tempore  Speaker  without  my  approbation  ; 
the  taking  notice  of  their  adjourning  themselves  from  time  to 
time  and  from  place  to  place  without  my  consent ;  and  to 
adjourn  and  prorogue  them  when  I  see  them  attempt  to  bring 
in  a  bill  to  lessen  the  number  of  H.M.  mattresses  and  their 
salarys,  with  which  they  cannot  support  themselves  at  present 
as  they  are  paid,  cannot  be  thought  insulting  and  abusing  the 
Assembly,  and  tho'  they  may  think  they  are  doing  good  for 
their  country,  it  can't  be  imputed  as  a  crime  in  me.  Your 
Grace  may  have  observed  by  what  principles  they  are  actuated, 
from  the  Address  of  the  present  Assembly  to  me,  on  my  Speech 
to  them  and  their  subsequent  Minutes  etc.  Repeats  part  of 
following  letter.  Signed,  Henry  Worsley.  Endorsed,  Rd. 
13th  Nov.  25  pp.  Enclosed, 

389.  i.  Petition  of  William  Webster,  Captain  Gunner,  the 
under-gunners  and  matrosses  of  St.  Michael's  division 
to  the  Governor  in  Council.  Request  payment  of 
£349  3*.  lid.  for  their  salaries,  9th  Sept.,  1727— 
9th  March,  1728.  1  p. 

389.  ii.  Account  of  above  salaries  etc.     Signed,  Wm.  Webster. 

Copy.     2  pp.     [C.O.   28,   44.     Nos.   124,   124  i,  ii.] 

390.  Governor    Worsley    to    the    Council    of    Trade    and 
Plantations.     Repeats    parts     of    preceding     covering     letter. 
Adds  :• — The  7th  instant  I  had  the  honour  of  receiveing  your 
Lordships'  letter  of  12th  April  last,  by  which  I  find  that  I  may 
shortly  expect  H.M.  commands  in  relation  to  the  Assemblys 
assuming  to  themselves  a  power  of  adjourning  as  they  think 
fitt,   which  they  have  constantly  done  this  sessions,   (except 
the  first  time  they  met)  as  also  of  choosing    a   pro  tempore 
Speaker  without  my  approbation,  as  I  have  had  the  honour 
to  advise  your  Lordships.     The  publication  I  order'd  to  be 
made  in  all  the  churches  of  the  repeal  of  the  Act  declaring  and 
ascertaining  the  rights  and  powers  of  the  General  Assembly  has 
undeceived  many  of  the  inhabitants  thereof  who  before  thought 
the  Assembly  of  Barbados  had  the  same  powers  as  the  House 
of  Commons  in  Great  Britain,  and  that  they  had    "  a  coercive 
power  to  call  before  them  such  persons  as  shall  be  able  to  give 
evidence  in  matters  relateing  to  grievances  upon  H.M.  good 
subjects  of  this  island,  or  to  send  for  persons  papers  and  records 
in  order  to  the  better  discovery  and  redressing  such  grievances, 
and  for  the  better  enquiry  into  the  breach  of  H.M.  good  and 
wholesome  laws  of  this  Island,  without  which  they  could  by 
no  means  attain  to  such  good  ends  for  which  it  shall  please 
H.M.   to   call   them,   which  would  very  much  tend  to   H.M. 
dishonour  and  disservice  and  very  much  to  the  detriment  of 
H.M.  subjects  of  this  Island  "  etc.     This  is  the  preamble  of  the 


AMERICA  AND   WEST  INDIES.  201 

1728. 

Act,  which  upon  its  arrival  in  England  was  immediately 
repealed  by  King  William  tho'  the  Habeas  Corpus  Act  which 
they  had  passed  the  year  before  was  not  repealed  till  1702, 
upon  this  consideration  I  did  refuse  to  comply  with  the  Address 
of  the  last  year's  Assembly  for  the  copy  of  the  report  of  the 
Judges  upon  the  complaint  against  the  Deputy  Provost 
Marshall,  in  that  they  had  no  power  to  redress  grievances, 
which  your  Lordships  will  observe  they  do  still  assume  to 
themselves  in  their  Address  they  make  to  me  this  year,  and 
as  they  have  no  power  to  send  for  persons,  papers  and  records, 
I  did  refuse  to  lay  before  them  the  lists  of  the  fees,  especially 
as  H.M.  by  his  38th  Instruction  has  provided  a  redress. 
Quotes  instruction  to  Governor  with  advice  of  Council  to 
regulate  fees  and  that  tables  of  fees  be  hung  up  in  publick 
places  where  they  are  to  be  paid.  Continues  : — And  in  order 
thereto  on  the  28th  of  November  last  I  ordered  all  the  officers 
to  lay  a  list  of  their  fees  before  me  in  Council,  and  on  20th 
Feb.  last  I  appointed  a  Committee  of  the  whole  Council,  or 
any  five  of  them  to  examine  them,  and  to  make  their  report 
to  me  in  Council,  but  they  have  not  yet  done  it,  alledging  they 
have  not  been  able  to  get  a  Committee  of  five  of  the  Council 
to  meet,  if  this  was  so  great  a  grievance  to  the  country,  surely 
five  Members  of  the  Council  would  find  time  to  meet  in  order 
to  have  the  fees  regulated.  Quotes  postcript  from  Board's 
letter  relating  to  French  and  St.  Vincents,  v.  12th  April. 
Continues  :— In  the  island  of  St.  Vincent's,  there  are  blacks, 
Indians  and  some  French,  the  blacks  being  superior  to  the 
Indians,  possess  the  inland  part  of  the  island,  and  the  Indians 
are  retired  to  the  sea-coast,  where  the  French  settle,  and 
intermarry  with  them,  and  as  I  have  been  informed  they  do 
raise  corn,  but  no  French  vessells  have  brought  any  here, 
whether  any  English  sloops  have,  or  not  I  am  not  certaine, 
but  if  they  have  I  don't  know  of  any  law,  that  can  hinder  them. 
As  to  the  French  man  of  war  pretending  to  seize  any  English 
sloops  there,  for  cutting  of  timber,  I  never  heard  he  did,  but 
about  a  year  and  a  half  since  a  French  man  of  war  was  sent 
from  France  fitted  out  by  the  merchants  at  Nantz,  as  I  have 
heard  to  prevent  the  counterband  trade,  that  was  carryed  on 
at  Martinique  by  English  ships,  who  went  directly  to  Sta. 
Lucia  with  beef,  and  other  provisions,  or  toucht  here,  and  sold 
their  provisions  and  carryed  away  our  money  with  which  they 
went  to  Sta.  Lucia,  to  purchase  French  sugars,  which  were 
clandestinely  carryed  to  them  from  Martinique,  and  then 
proceeded  with  them  to  Holland,  or  other  forreigne  ports, 
where  they  could  enter,  this  allarm'd  the  French  merchants, 
and  was  the  occasion  of  their  petitioning  for  the  said  man  of 
war,  who  when  she  arrived,  went  to  Sta.  Lucia,  and  seized 
several  English  ships  and  other  vessells,  who  had  on  board 
sugars,  or  other  French  commoditys  brought  to  them 


202  COLONIAL   PAPERS. 

1728. 


clandistinely   from    Martinique    without   paying   the    King    of 
France  his  duty.     I  have  the  honour  to  inclose  to  your  Lord- 
ships the  Minutes  of  the  Assembly  of  the  29th  past ;   which 
is  in  answer  to  the  Councillors'  reasons  for  their  amendments 
to   the    Excise   Bill.     The    Assembly   say    'tis   notorious   that 
many  excise  bills  have  been  passed  even  during  my  Government, 
whereby  in  certain  cases  an  address  of  the  General  Assembly 
was  made  necessary,  previous  to  the  passing  orders  for  money 
rais'd  by  those  bills,  as  perticularly  in  the  cases  of  defraying 
the   charges   of  the   entertainments   of  the   Courts   of  Grand 
Sessions,  and  of  the  repairs  of  Pilgrim  etc.     Continues : — As 
to  the  first  case,  it  dos  not  appear  in  any  other,  but  the  two 
last  excise  acts,  by  a  law  of  this  island  the  expence  of  the  Grand 
Sessions  is  to  be  paid  out  of  the  casual  revenue,  but  by  my 
46  Instruction,  H.M.  commands  it  shall  be  paid  out  of  the 
publick  Treasury  of  the  Island,  and  with  some  difficulty  I  got 
it  inserted  in  the  Excise  bill  in  the  year  1726,  and  the  expression 
(upon   the   address   from   the   General   Assembly)    did   indeed 
escape  my  notice,  but  this  is  so  far  from  proving  a  right,  that 
on  the  contrary  it  shews  how  necessary  it  is  (even  in  the  most 
minute  things)  not  to  suffer  innovations.     Some  from  a  bare 
indulgence  in  small  things  are  apt  to  put  in  a  claim  of  right 
to  much  greater,  as  to  the  second  case,  the  repairs  of  Pilgrim 
House,  by  my  27  Instruction  H.M.  commands  that  the  General 
Assembly  are  permitted  to  assign,   or  provide  such  a  house 
or  rent  of  a  house,  and  consequently  I  thought  it  just  and 
reasonable  that  they  should  have  the  enquiry  into  the  repairs 
or  buildings,  and  even  laid  before  them  the  workmen's  receipts 
of  the  money  expended  for  the  said  repairs.     But  the  question 
now   I   take   to   be   whether   the    Assembly  have    a   right  of 
inspecting,  regulateing,  or  approveing  of  accounts,  before  an 
order    be    issued    for    them,    which   is    contrary    to    H.M.    34 
Instruction,  which  I  laid  before  them  before  they  passed  the 
bill  the  second  time.     The  Assembly s  have  always  addressed 
the  Governour  in  Council  for  moneys  upon  several  occasions, 
and  it  has  been  formerly  granted,  but  in  the  ordenary  use  of 
any  former  excise  act  an  address  was  never  made  necessary, 
and  that  without  it  no  order  should  pass,  or  if  it  did,  the 
Treasurer  should  not  pay  it,  or  if  he  paid  it,  the  Committee  of 
Publick  Accounts  should  not  allow  it,  'tis  certain  there  never 
was  such  an  use  in  any  preceeding  excise  bill,  since  the  settle- 
ment of  the  island.     But  this  proceeding  of  theirs  will  appear 
more  extraordinary,  when  your  Lordships  shall  consider,  what 
these   uses   are  for,   nothing  less   than   for  H.M.   stores,   and 
fortifications,  what  will  naturally  follow  this,  will  be  the  pay- 
ment of  the  gunners,  and  the  matrosses  in  the  same  manner, 
and  then  all  the  power  H.M.  Governour  will  have,  will  be  to 
name  the  matrosses,  who  will  certainly  serve  them,  that  can 
pay  them  ;    and  as  for  the  Militia  by  a  law  in  this  island  passed 


AMERICA  AND   WEST   INDIES.  203 

1728. 

by  President  Bond,  the  Collos.  have  got  the  sole  command  of 
them.  Indeed  the  Governours  grant  the  commissions,  but 
how  is  that  ?  after  he  has  given  the  Collo.  his,  the  Collo.  insists 
upon  blank  commissions  for  the  other  officers.  I  have  always 
put  in  the  field  officers,  but  that  has  ever  been  a  heart  burning. 
The  Assembly  do  not  pretend  to  make  out  the  warrants,  or 
orders  for  money,  that  servile  part  they  leave  to  the  Governour 
and  Council ;  nor  do  they  command  the  Governour  and  Council 
to  issue  orders  in  pursuance  of  their  addresses  ;  but  they  tell 
them  not  to  issue  the  money  for  such  uses,  till  they  have  first 
addressed  for  it,  so  that  notwithstanding  that  the  Governour, 
and  Council  have  found  it  necessary  for  H.M.  service,  and  the 
publick  good,  to  employ  persons  at  the  publick  expence  in 
pursuance  of  the  general  interest,  as  well  as  the  title  of  the  law, 
and  that  those  persons  should  faithfully  do  their  duty 
accordingly,  they  shall  never  have  an  order  for  their  money 
unless  they  have  interest  enough  with  some  leading  men  of  the 
Assembly  to  procure  it  for  them,  these  persons  were  formerly 
paid  on  the  head  of  emergencies,  which  orders  were  always 
paid  preferable.  They  particularly  mention  my  granting  an 
order  to  Mr.  Hammond  Deputy  Secretary  and  Deputy  Clerk 
of  the  Council,  I  did  grant  it,  with  the  advice  and  consent  of 
the  Council,  for  his  attending  at  the  Council  Board,  and  for 
transcribing  fair  minutes  and  duplicates  thereof  to  be  sent 
home,  and  entring  and  transcribing  the  laws,  and  publishing 
them  in  the  churches,  and  for  administring  an  oath  to  all 
masters  of  ships,  appointed  by  a  law  passed  in  1706,  and  for 
doing  many  other  things  for  the  publick,  as  appears  by  an 
account  sworn  to,  and  which  I  have  againe  ordered  to  be 
examined,  and  is  refer'd  to  a  Committee  of  Council  for  that 
purpose,  and  certainly  every  man  ought  to  be  paid  for  the  work 
he  hath  lawfully  done.  But  though  I  with  the  advice  and 
consent  of  the  Council  did  grant  it,  it  is  not  paid,  nor  can,  but 
by  an  use  in  the  excise  bill,  when  the  Assembly  shall  think 
fitt  to  make  one  ;  on  the  other  hand  the  Clerk  and  Marshall 
of  the  Assembly  have  their  annual  salarys,  and  even  made 
preferable  to  the  payment  of  H.M.  gunners,  and  matrosses, 
the  Clerk  has  £200  per  annum,  besides  an  allowance  of  about 
£60  per  annum  for  extraordenarys  pens  ink  and  paper.  The 
granting  the  Secretary  orders  for  such  extraordenary  services 
for  the  publick,  as  before  mentioned,  has  been  often  practiced 
in  this  island,  by  the  Minutes  of  the  23rd  April,  1723,  an  order 
was  granted  to  Mr.  John  Lenoir  the  Deputy  Secretary  for  the 
sum  of  £325  18*.  9rf.,  and  on  the  21st  day  of  January  172f, 
an  act  was  past  for  the  payment  of  the  same  as  appears  by  the 
Minutes  of  Council  of  the  same  day.  The  Committee  of  the 
Assembly  alledge  further  that  Collo.  Leslie  by  my  intervention 
farmed  the  office  of  storekeeper  to  Mr.  Hammond,  and  insinuate 
as  if  it  was  for  my  use.  The  store-keepers  have  always 


204  COLONIAL   PAPERS. 

1728. 

appointed  deputys  to  act  under  them,  who  live  in  town,  on 
account  of  the  daily  departure  of  the  ships,  and  the  storekeepers 
give  bond,  and  security  in  £2000  for  the  stores  they  receive  ; 
if  the  Committee  of  accounts  would  but  make  up  his  accounts, 
which  he  has  desired  them  often  to  do,  for  he  has  now  been 
near  twelve  months  out  of  that  office,  they  would  soon  see  if 
any  of  the  powder  was  imbezled  or  wasted  ;  ever  since  the 
20th  of  Feb.  last,  as  appears  by  the  Minutes  of  Council  of  the 
same  day,  I  have  ordered  them  to  do  it,  and  notwithstanding 
it  is  not  yet  done.  But  as  for  myself  I  know  of  no  contract 
by  my  intervention,  betwixt  Col.  Leslie  and  Mr.  Hammond, 
who  has  been  now  gone  off  of  this  island  for  North  America 
since  April  last  was  three  years,  and  if  there  has  been  any  it 
is  not  for  my  use,  as  they  would  insinuate.  The  Committee 
of  the  Assembly  further  add  in  the  said  Minutes,  "  that  several 
orders  had  been  issued,  and  that  too  for  some  thousands  of 
pounds  to  William  Webster  Esq.,  Capt.  Gunner  of  St.  Michael's 
division,  who  at  the  same  time  he  was,  and  is  Captain  Gunner, 
was,  and  is  H.E.'s  Secretary  and  Deputy  Secretary  of  this 
island,  though  those  two  offices  of  Captain  Gunner,  and  Deputy 
Secretary  of  this  island  are  incompatible,  the  Captain  Gunner 
being  obliged  to  prove  his  accounts  on  oath,  which  is  impossible 
in  this  present  case."  I  am  surprized  how  they  can  make  so 
great  a  mistake,  for  about  three  years  only  Mr.  Webster  has 
been  Deputy  Secretary  and  Captain  Gunner,  the  salary  of 
Captain  Gunner  is  £100  currant  money  of  this  island  per  annum. 
Every  half-year  the  Captain  Gunner,  under  gunners,  and 
matrosses,  petition  for  separate  orders  for  each  man's  salary, 
which  with  the  advice  and  consent  of  the  Council  I  grant 
separately,  the  annual  expence  for  this  division  for  the  pay- 
ment of  the  said  Captain  Gunner,  under  gunners,  and  matrosses 
amounts  to  about  £700  per  annum,  but  Mr.  Webster  has  only 
the  orders  for  his  own  salary,  and  some  small  charges.  I  have 
sent  your  Lordships  inclosed  a  copy  of  one  of  the  petitions 
with  the  account  annexed,  by  which  your  Lordships  will  see 
whether  several  orders  of  some  thousands  of  pounds  have  been 
granted  to  Mr.  Webster  or  not.  As  for  the  incompatibility 
of  those  two  posts,  because  the  Captain  Gunner  is  to  deliver 
in  upon  oath  to  the  Secretary  of  this  island  for  the  time  being 
a  true  and  just  account  of  what  shall  be  due  to  himself,  under 
gunners,  and  matrosses,  for  these  are  the  words  of  the  law, 
it  was  referr'd  to  H.M.  Attorney  General,  who  hath  reported, 
that  they  are  not  incompatible,  and  that  if  he  delivered  his 
account  upon  oath  before  me  in  Council,  it  answered  the  true 
intent  of  the  law,  which  he  accordingly  did.  The  Committee 
of  the  Assembly  observe  as  to  the  orders  issued  to  Collo.  Leslie 
"  for  supplying  the  forts  etc.  with  necessary s  etc.  that  the  sums 
therein  charged  for  such  supplys  pretended  to  be  furnisht  are 
in  many  instances  many  hundred  pr.  cent,  more  then  such 


AMERICA   AND   WEST   INDIES.  205 

1728. 

supplys  (if  actually  furnished)  could  really  have  been  worth, 
as  for  instance  forty  or  fifty  pounds  have  been  therein  charged 
for  flaggs,  that  might  have  been  bought  for  fifteen  or  twenty 
pounds."  Col.  Forbes  the  Storekeeper  before  my  arrival  as 
I  am  informed  did  charge  £45  for  a  flagg,  and  Mr.  Wadeson 
since  my  arrival  charged  one  at  the  same  price,  and  one  in 
Collo.  Leslie's  time  was  charged  at  £40.  But  the  Committee 
of  Council,  who  I  ordered  to  examine  the  accounts  before  the 
orders  were  passed,  fixed  the  price  for  the  future  at  £35.  Your 
Lordships  will  observe  by  the  Minutes  of  Council  what  care 
I  took  in  granting  the  orders  to  the  Store-keepers  for  the 
necessarys,  and  utensills  they  supplyed.  In  the  Minutes  of 
Council  of  24th  May,  1723  your  Lordships  will  see  the  report 
of  the  Councillors  to  whom  the  petition  of  Collo.  William  Leslie 
for  necessarys,  and  utensills  he  had  formerly  supplyed  the 
forts  with,  was  referred  to  examine,  and  afterwards  an  order 
was  granted  to  him  for  £420  Is.  10|d.  In  the  Minutes  of  29th 
Sept.  1724  is  the  report  of  the  Councillors  to  whom  the  petition 
of  Collo.  Forbes  was  referr'd  for  £392  12*.  2d.,  and  of  Samuel 
Wadeson  for  £303  2*.  lid.  the  late  storekeepers  ;  and  then 
orders  were  issued  for  the  payment  of  the  same.  In  the  Minutes 
of  Council  of  llth  May,  1725,  there  is  a  petition  of  Collo.  Leslie 
for  £388  lls.  Id.  which  was  referr'd  to  a  Committee  of  Council, 
who  deducted  £5  of  the  account,  and  therefore  an  order  was 
afterwards  on  the  2d  July  following  granted  for  £383  11s.  7d. 
only.  These  are  all  the  orders  that  have  as  yet  been  paid, 
though  since  Collo.  Leslie  was  removed  from  being  store-keeper, 
he  has  brought  in  his  accounts  for  the  years  1725,  1726,  1727 
for  which  indeed  orders  were  passed  without  referring  the 
accounts,  but  that  the  Assembly  may  not  have  the  least  reason 
of  complaining  I  have  referr'd  them  to  a  Committee.  I  must 
observe  to  your  Lordships  upon  the  head  of  the  Storekeepers' 
accounts,  that  formerly  their  disbursments  were  paid  as 
emergencies,  and  as  such  were  paid  immediately,  and  therefore 
the  flaggs  might  have  been  afforded  cheaper,  and  the  question 
then  will  be  whether  £24  or  £25  in  hand  is  not  better  than 
£35  5,  6,  or  7  years  hence,  in  a  country  where  money  is  at  10 
pr.  cent.,  for  as  the  orders  are  now  paid  in  course  the  soonest 
they  can  expect  to  be  paid  in,  is  4  or  5  years,  and  they  may  be 
longer.  As  the  Assembly  have  in  these  Minutes  desired  that 
H.M.  would  be  pleased  to  determine  the  point  in  dispute  between 
them  and  the  Council,  the  Excise  bill  is  dropped  till  an  answer 
arrives.  In  Mr.  Crow's  Government  there  was  a  dispute 
betwixt  the  Council  and  Assembly  about  the  latters  appointing 
Agents  in  the  Excise  bill.  I  have  sent  your  Lordships  copys 
of  the  proceedings  out  of  the  Council  books,  the  Assembly  did 
then  agree  to  the  Council's  amendments  as  appears  from  the 
very  Act.  I  have  inclosed  also  a  copy  of  the  uses  in  that 
Excise  act  etc.  I  am  extreamly  obliged  to  your  Lordships  for 


206 


COLONIAL   PAPERS. 


1728. 


your  kind  congratulation  upon  H.M.  great  goodness  in  haveing 
been  graciously  pleased  to  re-appoint  me  His  Governor  etc. 
This  go's  by  Capt.  Wickham  in  the  Brigantine  Eagle.  Signed, 
Henry  Worsley.  Endorsed,  Reed.  7th,  Read  20th  Nov.,  1728. 
13  pp.  Enclosed, 

390.  i.  Minutes  of  Council  of  Barbados,  8th  March  —  1st  April, 

1708.     Copy.     7%  pp. 

390.  ii.  Uses  in  the  Excise  Act  that  passed  in  Mr.  Crowe's 
Government.  25th  March,  1708.  Endorsed,  Reed. 
7th  Nov.,  1728.  Copy.  2  pp. 

390.  iii.  Duplicate  of  encl.  i  and  ii  preceding.  [C.O.  28,  20. 
ff.  49-55,  56i;.-61t;.,  62t>.-63i;.] 


Sept.  13.         391  .     Governor  Hunter  to  Mr.  Stanyan.     Repeats  following, 
Jamaica,      written  to  Mr.  Delafaye  as  Agent  for  the  Island.     Signed,  Ro. 
Hunter.     Endorsed,  Rd.  Dec.   1st.     Holograph.     4  pp.     [C.O. 
137,  53.     ff.  84-85i\] 


Sept.  13. 

Jamaica. 


392.  Governor  Hunter  to  Mr.  Delafaye.  Mr.  Ayscough's 
conduct  etc.  has  much  disconcerted  my  measures  whether 
it  be  that  he  thinks  keeping  afloat  old  grudges  between  the 
Council  and  Assembly  or  the  govt.  and  them  may  in  some 
measure  throw  the  blame  of  pass'd  miscariages  upon  the 
Assembly,  or  any  other  hidden  cause  I  know  not,  but  his 
activity  in  promoting  that  Sugar  bill,  his  getting  himself 
industriously  nam'd  as  one  of  ye  Council,  without  my  know- 
ledge, to  joyn  with  a  Committee  of  ye  Assembly  for  instructing 
the  Agent  whilst  he  well  knew  that  this  very  step  would 
obstruct  the  Bill,  and  is,  on  my  begging  it  of  him  as  a  favour 
that  he  would  excuse  himself  from  that  nomination,  not  only 
refusing  but  owning  that  it  was  done  to  obstruct  ye  passing 
of  the  Bill,  and  that  the  Council  thought  themselves  injured  in 
ye  Instruction  apponting  two  of  ye  Council  only  to  be  joyn'd 
with  five  of  ye  Assembly  for  that  purpose,  makes  it  evident 
to  me  at  least  that  his  intention  is  to  perpetuate  these 
animositys  which  I  am  studying  hard  to  root  up.  For  at  this 
very  time  he  was  under  the  scrutiny  of  ye  Assembly  for  some 
misapplication  of  publick  money  and  will  be  so  in  ye  next 
Session  notwithstanding  of  my  endeavours  for  him  in  softning 
that  affaire.  You'll  think  it  odd  that  the  Council  after  having 
themselves  pass'd  the  Sugar  Bill,  should  advise  me  not  to 
give  my  assent  to  't,  I'll  give  you  the  history  of  that ;  I  desir'd 
to  be  acquainted  when  that  Bill  should  be  sent  up  to  the  Council, 
(for  you  must  understand  that  here  contrary  to  ye  practice  of 
ye  Councils  to  ye  Northward  they  clame  a  right  to  sitt  by 
themselves  when  in  their  Legislative  capacity  which  is  indeed 
of  ill  consequence)  having  heard  the  Bill  read  I  told  them  that 
being  a  bill  of  a  very  extraordinary  nature  affecting  the  trade 
of  Engld.  and  credit  of  ye  Island  I  thought  it  would  be  expedient 


AMERICA   AND   WEST   INDIES.  207 

1728. 

that  a  Clause  should  be  added  suspending  ye  execution  'till  H.M. 
pleasure  was  known  and  offer'd  another  amendment,  wch. 
they  receiv'd  but  took  no  notice  of  ye  first.  After  I  remov'd, 
Mr.  Gregery  mov'd  that  in  regard  to  the  consequences  of  this 
Bill  and  what  I  say'd  he  thought  it  expedient  the  consideration 
of  it  should  be  putt  off  'till  Tuesday  when  there  would  probably 
be  a  fuller  Board,  but  to  no  purpose  for  that  party,  five,  read 
the  bill  thrice  in  one  day,  if  I  remember  right  and  pass'd  it 
without  having  committed  it.  When  there  was  a  fuller  Council 
I  lay'd  the  Instructions  before  them  and  desir'd  their  opinion 
if  the  bill  was  not  of  ye  nature  of  these  to  which  I  am  forbid 
to  give  my  assent,  and  they  gave  it  as  their  opinion  that  it  was, 
and  one  of  them  desir'd  his  reasons  for  such  his  opinion  might 
be  enter'd  in  ye  Minutes  which  was  done.  I  told  you  in  my 
last  that  the  Atty.  Genii,  had  inform'd  me  that  Mr.  Ayscough 
had  apply'd  for  a  privy  scale  to  constitute  him  Cheife  Justice 
here,  I  know  not  what  way  his  intrest  may  lye  at  home,  but 
I'll  be  bold  to  affirm  that  if  it  were  comply 'd  with  confusion 
must  ensue  and  the  Govt.  be  brought  into  contempt ;  it  is 
true  the  present  Cheife  Justice  Pennant  is  so  weake  a  man 
that  the  Bench  is  grown  contemptible  and  I  am  now  resolv'd 
to  putt  in  another,  for  he  was  put  into  yt.  trust  in  Mr. 
Ayscough's  time  only  to  keep  out  another  who  was  indeed  very 
unfitt.  Upon  the  whole  I  know  no  better  expedient  for  bringing 
matters  to  bear  here  for  the  ease  of  ye  Government  and  quieting 
the  minds  of  the  subjects  here,  then  leaving  Mr.  Ayscough  out  of 
ye  list  of  Council  by  a  new  Instruction  or  special  letter  for  that 
purpose,  for  the  dread  of  many  that  they  may  once  more  fall 
under  the  lash  of  his  power  gives  much  uneasinesse  he  being  a 
man  of  pride  resentment  and  litle  judgement.  The  next  in 
seniority  in  Council  is  Coll.  Gommersell  a  man  of  probity  and 
experience  and  well  belov'd.  I  had  formerly  recommended 
to  his  Grace  and  the  Lords  of  Trade  in  case  of  vacancy  there 
Alexr.  Forbes  Esq.,  Will  Needham  and  Ed.  Charlton,  all  men 
of  character  and  fortune  the  first  was  recommended  to  his 
Grace  by  the  King's  Advocate  whilst  I  was  yet  in  London. 
The  Assembly  is  to  meet  next  moneth,  I  hope  in  better  temper 
for  on  second  thoughts  many  of  them  are  cool'd  as  to  ye  Sugar 
Bill,  which  was  indeed  no  more  than  a  piece  of  art  for  an  evil 
purpose  etc.  P.S.  Communicate  all  or  what  you  think  fitt 
of  this  to  his  Grace.  I  have  wrote  to  the  same  purpose  to 
Mr.  Stanyan.  Signed,  Ro.  Hunter.  Endorsed,  R.  1st  Dec. 
Holograph.  4  pp.  [C.O.  137,  53.  ff.  82-830.] 

Sept.  14.        393.     John    Bennet    to    the    Duke    of    Montagu.     Returns 

Barbados,     thanks   for   letter   of  May    16th.     Continues :— The   universal 

character  that  your  Grace  has,  with  men  that  are  for  promoting 

the  good  of  mankind,  in  such  a  laudable  manner  as  your  genius 

leads  you  to,  was  the  most  prevalent  reason  that  I  give  your 


208 


COLONIAL   PAPERS. 


1728. 


Sept.  15. 

Windsor 
Castle. 


Sept.  17. 

Canso. 


Grace  the  trouble,  and  myself  the  pains  on  the  affair  of  St. 
Lucia.  I  have  lately  in  pursuance  of  that  opinion  ventured 
to  write  you  by  Mr.  Harper  etc.  I  now  again  affirm  and  am 
able  to  give  the  strongest  reasons  in  the  world,  that  if  we  do 
not  secure  that  island,  we  shall  be  outed  of  all  the  Charibees 
and  consequently  of  the  whole  sugar  trade.  The  French  be 
they  never  so  good  allies,  are  the  onely  persones  that  we  are  to 
dread  in  those  parts.  If  anything  can  be  done  for  the  good 
of  these  Coloneys  I  humbly  presume  to  think  that  your  Grace 
might  contribute  very  much  towards  it,  etc.  Signed,  John 
Bennet.  Endorsed,  Reed.  Read  llth  Dec.,  1728.  1|  pp. 
[C.O.  28,  20.  ff.  74,  74w.,  75v.] 


394.  Lord    Townshend    to    Governor    Hunter.     As    H.M. 
still    receives    complaints    from    the    West    Indies    that    the 
Spaniards    continue   to   interrupt   the   trade   of  His   subjects, 
and  to  make  depredations  upon  them  in  a  piratical    manner, 
He  has  directed  orders  to  be  sent  to  Comodore  St.  Lo,  or  the 
Commander-in-Chief  of  H.M.  ships  in  the  West  Indies,  to  seize 
and  secure  such  ships  and  vessels  as  shall  act  piratically,  or 
under  illegal  comissions  or  shall  make  depredations  on  H.M. 
subjects  since  the  cessation  of  arms  has  been  declared.     And 
as  the  King  has  likewise  had  advices,  that  the  Spaniards  are 
strengthening  their  naval   force   in   America,    and   finds   that 
tho'  open  hostilities  are  ceased,   yet  their  behaviour  is  such 
as  gives  grounds  to  entertain  jealousies  of  their  designs,  H.M. 
thinks  in  prudence  he  ought  to  be  upon  his  guard,  and  therefore 
has  thought  fit  to  direct  you  to  get  the  best  information  you  can 
of  their  strength  by  sea,  and  of  the  ships  that  come  from  Old 
Spain  to  reinforce  their  naval  armament  in  the  West  Indies, 
and  accordingly  to  be  watchfull  of  their  motions  and  to  put 
your  self  in  such  a  posture,  that  you  may  neither  be  insulted 
nor   surprized.     Signed,   Townshend.     1|  pp.     [C.O.    137,    53. 
ff.  86,  87  ;   and  (duplicate)  88,  881;.  ;   and  137,  18.    /.  3.] 

395.  Capt.  Caccally  to  Govr.  Philipps.     As  I  have  by  all 
oppertunitys  hitherto  and  allways  shall  doe  myself  the  honour 
to  represent  to  you  the  state  of  affairs  here  whilst  I  have  the 
honour   to    command   it,    soe    must   now   inform   you   of  the 
ungenerous   dealings   of  Mr.    St.   Ovide   Govr.   of  Louisbourg. 
The  17th  of  last  month  four  soldiers  deserted  and  took  with 
them  a  boat  and  sails.     I  ordered  Ensign  Bradstreet  to  pursue 
them,  he  went  to  St.  Esprit  on  the  French  shoar  where  he  found 
the  boat  wch.  they  abandoned  and  betook  'emselves  to  the 
woods,  he  immediately  sent  by  land  to  acquaint  Mr.  St.  Ovide 
that  there  were  English  deserters  in  his  Government,  and  even 
in  Louisbourg,  and  to  desire  he  would  order  them  to  be  secured 
till  his  arrivall,  all  wch.  he  took  noe  notice  of,  and   when   Mr. 
Bradstreet  delivered  him  my  letter,  he  said  he  knew  nothing 


AMERICA   AND   WEST   INDIES.  209 

1728. 

of  the  matter,  but  if  Mr.  Bradstreet  cou'd  find  out  where  they 
were,  he  wou'd  have  them  secur'd ;  upon  enquiry  it  was 
discovered  that  a  preist  called  father  Narciss  took  two  of  them 
who  called  themselves  Papists  and  conveyed  them  on  board 
the  French  man  of  war  at  Louisbourg,  the  other  two  were  at 
work  in  Louisbourg  the  very  day  Mr.  Bradstreet  arrived  there, 
but  were  immediatly  sent  away  etc.  I  find  our  men  are 
possessed  with  an  opinion  that  all  who  desert  to  the  french 
shoar  are  to  be  protected  and  encouraged,  wch.  oblidges  us  to 
keep  a  very  strict  watch  over  them,  tho'  at  present  wee  are 
extream  scarce  of  officers  etc.  I  am  oblidged  to  complain  to 
your  Excellcy.  of  the  New  England  fishermen  who  have  at 
severall  times  both  this  summer  and  last  taken  away  severall 
of  our  men  ;  I  cou'd  wish  with  all  my  heart  to  have  the  honour 
of  a  line  from  yr.  Excellcy.  to  inform  me  how  to  act  in  this 
affair.  I  have  sent  the  muster-rolls  by  this  oppertunity,  and 
have  reed,  five  chests  of  arms  from  Annapolis  royall.  Refers 
to  his  previous  reports  as  to  the  "  miserable  state  of  our  barraks 
and  guard-room,  .  .  it  is  impossible  for  our  men  to  hold  out, 
for  wee  have  already  lost  severall  by  fluxes  and  colds,  occasioned 
by  their  lying  wett  "  etc.  Signed,  Francis  Caccally.  Endorsed, 
Reed.  3rd  Dec.  from  Col.  Gardiner.  Holograph.  3  pp.  [C.O. 
217,  38.  No.  19.] 

Sept.  18.  396.  Statement  by  [?  John  Savy.]  Whereas  I  have  lived 
Charakees  and  traded  in  this  nation  for  the  space  of  seven  years  and  have 
ee'  thoroly  learn  their  tongue  being  upon  some  business  called 
home  to  England  the  King  and  head  wariors  would  not  lett 
me  depart  till  I  gave  them  my  promise  to  return  and  to  deliver 
their  presents  that  they  would  send  by  me  to  the  King's  most 
excellent  Majesty  their  Master  over  the  great  water  and  likewise 
to  return  them  his  answer  by  the  mulbery  moon  next  which 
will  be  in  June  according  to  our  stile.  I  had  not  had  the 
presumption  to  undertooke  their  message  till  after  some  time 
of  consideration  and  the  advice  of  our  agent  and  severall  of 
my  friends  that  it  would  prove  to  the  advantage  of  my  King 
and  country  as  I  shall  here  mention  in  the  first  place  when 
S.  Carolina  was  involved  in  an  Indian  warr  they  were  the  first 
people  that  joined  with  us  to  subdue  the  Indians  that  was 
against  us  this  was  transacted  in  the  government  of  Charles 
Craven  Esq.  then  governour  of  South  Caroline  who  sent  up  to 
the  said  Nation  400  men  white  and  blacks  under  the  command 
of  Colonel  Morrissmore  [sic]  and  at  the  same  time  came  in  a 
body  of  Cricks  or  Southern  Indians  to  them  in  order  to  cutt 
off  our  army  but  after  a  counsell  held  among  themselves  as 
God  would  have  it  they  concluded  to  kill  the  messengers  that 
came  from  the  Indians  and  accordingly  about  twelve  a  clock 
at  night  struck  the  blow  and  brought  upon  themselves  and 
families  a  continual  war  which  I  have  since  been  an(d)  eye 

C.P.  XXXVI— 14 


210  COLONIAL   PAPERS. 

1728. 

witness  too  for  when  their  wives  and  chidrens  have  been  killed 
or  taken  away  slaves  they  have  told  me  that  if  it  had  not  been 
to  save  the  white  people  they  would  have  been  at  peace  and 
quitness  but  withall  did  not  value  it  hopeing  one  time  or 
other  they  would  be  rewarded  for  their  trust  to  us  secondly 
they  are  the  only  Indians  that  Carolina  can  have  any  dependance 
upon  been  no  wayes  corrupted  by  the  Crown  of  France  nor 
Spain  nor  would  they  ever  suffer  it  for  I  have  seen  ten  of  the 
French  Indians  killed  that  was  sent  to  them  to  treat  conserning 
trade  or  peace  their  answer  being  that  they  would  have  nothing 
to  say  butt  to  the  English,  as  to  all  our  other  Indians  which 
is  but  three  nations  they  cant  not  be  call'd  ours  for  the 
Chickasaws  have  among  them  the  french  whom  have  setled 
a  fort  and  has  to  the  cricks  they  have  also  a  french  fort  amongst 
them  and  notwithstanding  the  Spaniards  also  trade  amongst 
them  and  has  to  the  third  nation  which  is  the  Catawbes  they 
are  hardly  worth  notice  been  in  number  but  400  men  butt 
yett  they  are  devided  some  to  the  interest  of  Virginia  and  others 
to  Carolina  so  that  wee  cant  properly  call  any  of  them  ours 
butt  these  Charakees  who  are  the  only  barier  or  lyne  between 
the  French  and  us  and  if  once  the  French  should  gett  footing 
there  who  are  a  very  encroching  neighbour  not  valuing  a  vast 
present  of  arms  and  ammunition  so  as  they  can  enlarge  their 
masters  territories  and  be  troublesome  to  their  neigbours 
for  the  first  thing  they  do  after  a  peace  with  any  nation  of 
Indians  whatsoever  is  to  settle  a  fortification  and  debar  them 
from  the  commerce  of  any  other  person  whatsoever  in  trade  or 
otherwise  which  is  what  I  have  ever  since  told  the  Charakees 
that  if  once  they  came  into  friendship  with  the  French  they 
then  would  be  as  slaves  and  no  more  a  free  people  and  they 
have  at  a  solemn  meeting  promis  me  they  never  would  come 
to  a  peace  with  the  french  without  I  was  their  interpreter  and 
if  they  keep  their  word  which  I  don't  fear  if  I  do  butt  keep 
mine  which  with  the  grace  of  God  after  hearing  H.M.  will  and 
pleasure  I  intend  to  perform  to  those  poor  people  tho  Heathens 
which  are  the  honestest  and  truest  to  their  word  of  any  people 
I  ever  knew  and  depend  intirely  on  the  word  of  a  Christian  ; 
has  to  the  presents  they  have  sent  are  of  no  value  to  us  butt 
in  their  way  are  as  much  lookt  upon  as  possible  in  the  first 
place  the  eagle's  tayle  which  is  sent  by  the  King  of  Tanesche 
to  his  most  sacred  Majesty  is  an  emblem  or  token  of  an  intire 
friendship  and  has  to  the  carpets  they  are  for  H.M.  to  walke 
upon  the  pipes  are  of  a  great  value  among  them  butt  red  and 
they  have  ordered  me  to  doe  them  over  with  chaulk  as  everything 
that  comes  from  them  in  peace  must  be  white  as  to  the  girdle 
it  is  sent  from  a  man  of  warr  whom  to  my  knowledge  loves  us 
interily.  As  to  garters  and  oter  skin  I  shall  not  make  any 
remarks  upon  by  reason  it  would  be  to  tedious  to  tell  who  send 
them.  Lett  it  suffise  that  these  presents  are  sent  from  the 


AMERICA   AND   WEST   INDIES. 


211 


1728. 


Sept.  18. 

Antigua. 


Sept.  23. 

Portsmo. 


Sept.  24. 

Windsor. 


Sept.  24 


King  of  the  Charakees  and  eleven  head  wariors  whom  have 
a  great  desire  to  see  H.M.  and  the  strength  of  our  Nation  that 
they  may  tell  their  people  if  they  should  obtain  that  hapiness 
how  dangerous  it  would  be  to  brake  friendship  with  us,  likewise 
they  are  very  desirous  to  see  all  things  and  how  they  are  made 
for  their  young  people  thinks  it  impossible  such  things  as  wee 
cary  amongst  them  should  be  made  by  the  hands  of  man,  as 
to  my  own  part,  what  I  doe  is  out  of  pure  zeale  to  serve  my 
King  and  country.  I  was  born  in  London  of  french  parents 
and  protestants  so  that  having  the  french  and  English  tongue 
I  have  had  the  oportunity  by  Frenchmen  that  has  been  by  these 
people  taken  slaves  to  understand  all  their  plotts  and  if  they 
could  once  gain  the  Charakees  how  they  would  plague  Carolina 
etc.  Endorsed,  Charkees  and  John  Savy  and  Mr.  Wyat.  2|  pp. 
[C.O.  5,  1337.  No.  44.] 

397.  Governor  Lord  Londonderry  to  the  Duke  of  Newcastle. 
I  arrived  att  my  Government  the  19th  of  last  month,  and  am 
putting  in  execution  the  severall  commands  I  have  from  H.M. 
by  his  instructions,  of  which  I  shall  with  all  possible  speed 
acquaint  your  Grace  etc.  The  12th  of  this  month  Capt.  Paul 
George  Deputy  Governour  of  Montserrat  died.  I  have 
appointed  Capt.  John  Osborn  the  eldest  Captain  in  Collo. 
Lucas's  Regiment  Deputy  Governour  in  his  room,  untill  such 
time  as  H.M.  pleasure  shall  be  known  etc.  As  his  character 
and  capacity  may  very  well  recommend  him  to  this  preferment 
of  the  value  of  £200  sterling  per  annum,  so  'twould  be  of 
consequence  to  me  in  my  Goverment  to  have  my  first  recom- 
mendation take  effect,  in  which  I  begg  your  Grace's  good  offices 
etc.  Signed,  Londonderry.  2  pp.  [C.O.  152,  43.  ff.  29, 


398.  Mr.  Missing  to  the  Council  of  Trade  and  Plantations. 
In  reply  to   10th  Sept.   asks  for  details  as  to  numbers  and 
provision  intended  for  the  said  Palatines,  in  order  to  preparing 
a  tender  on  the  easiest  terms  etc.     Endorsed,  Reed.  27th  Sept., 
1728,  Read  16th  July,  1729.     f  p.     [C.O.  5,  360.    ff.  161,  162u.j 

399.  The  King  to  Lt.  Governor  Pitt.     With  this  you  will 
receive  a  Seal  for  the  use  of  our  Government  etc.     Described. 
You  are  to  return  the  former  seal  in  order  to  its  being  defaced 
etc.     Countersigned,    Holies  Newcastle.     1|  pp.      [C.O.   38,    8. 
pp.  144a,  144b  ;    and  324,  36.     pp.  81,  82.] 

400.  Similar  Instructions  to  the  Governors  of  New  Jersey, 
New     Hampshire     and     Massachusetts     Bay.     Countersigned, 
Holies  Newcastle.     [C.O.  324,  36.     pp.  82-86.] 


212  COLONIAL   PAPERS. 


1728. 

Sept.  25.  401 .  Mr.  Lowndes  to  [?  Mr.  Popple.]  In  reply  to  enquiry, 
suggests  that  the  best  method  for  settling  Palatines  in  S.  Carolina 
will  be  to  transport  2  or  300  families  with  provisions  for  a  year 
at  the  public  expense,  and  to  allot  120  acres  of  land  upon 
Savannah  or  Port  Royal  River  to  every  man  and  his  wife  and 
40  acres  per  child.  No  quit  rent  to  be  paid  for  the  first  two 
years,  a  very  small  acknowledgment  for  the  next  6,  and  2*. 
sterl.  per  acre  for  ever  after.  Continues : — By  this  means  the 
value  of  the  Crown's  uncultivated  land  will  be  raised  and  the 
publick  be  paid  good  interest  for  its  disbursemts.,  and  the 
inconveniency  of  having  rich  planters  take  up  great  tracts  of 
land  as  they  have  in  other  parts  of  America  and  so  without 
any  culture  let  it  out  to  new  settlers  at  a  very  advanced  rate 
will  be  for  the  future  entirely  prevented  etc.  This  practice, 
as  in  Virginia,  has  been  a  great  discouragemt.  in  peopling  the 
Province  etc.  A  diligent  planter  very  nearly  pays  the  expence 
of  clearing  the  land  by  timber  furnished  to  Barbados,  Nevis 
and  Antegoa  for  fuel  etc.  For  many  years  a  considerable 
lumber-trade  has  been  carried  on  from  hence  to  Jamaica  and 
Gt.  Britain  etc.  A  planter  in  Carolina  requires  a  greater 
compass  of  land  than  in  any  other  part  of  America.  For  the 
land  that  produces  rice  must  always  have  two  years  rest, 
and  hemp  and  flax  a  good  deal  of  fresh  land  etc.  Has  a  scheme 
for  re-imbursing  the  public  for  the  cost  of  transport  etc.,  if  he 
is  assured  of  a  competent  gratification  from  the  Treasury. 
Continues  : — It  is  well  known  I  was  (by  many  months)  the 
first  person  that  shewed  a  great  man  in  the  administration  of 
what  importance  'twould  be  to  block  up  the  Spanish  navigation 
from  Port  Royal  in  S.  Carolina  :  which  I  did  to  return  the 
affront  the  British  Nation  had  just  then  received  in  relation 
to  Gibraltar,  and  what  my  services  have  since  been  my  Lord 
Westmorland  I  doubt  not  will  certify.  I  beg  the  Lords 
Commrs.  to  keep  the  direction  of  the  affair  as  much  as  possible 
in  their  own  hands,  by  reminding  their  Lordps.  of  Mr.  Hunter's 
conduct  towards  those  Palatins  who  should  have  been  settled 
in  New  York  etc.  P.S.  Mr.  Nicholson  kept  me  out  of  my 
legal  right.  Signed,  Tho.  Lowndes.  Endorsed,  Reed.  27th 
Sept.,  1728,  Read  16th  July,  1729.  Holograph.  3  pp.  [C.O. 
5,  360.  ff.  167-168t;.] 

Sept.  26.         402.     Order  of  King  in  Council.     Referring  following  to  the 
Windsor.      Council  of  Trade  and  Plantations,  who  are  to  reconsider  the 
act  and  hear  the  merchants  thereupon  etc.     Signed,  Ja.  Vernon. 
Endorsed,  Reed.  4th,  Read  8th  Oct.,  1728.     1J  pp.      Enclosed, 
402.  i.  Petition  of  Merchants  of  London  trading  to  coast  of 
Africa  to  the  King.     Pray  to  be  heard  against  Act  of 
Virginia  laying  a  duty  of  40s.  pr.  head  on  slaves  im- 
ported etc.,  as  contrary  to  H.M.  Instructions  and  former 
orders  in  Council,  since  it  lays  a  duty  on  the  British 


AMERICA   AND   WEST   INDIES.  213 

1728. 

merchants  to  support  the  expenses  of  the  Government 
of  the  Plantations,  and  is  prejudicial  to  the  trade  of  Gt. 
Britain.  The  duty  "  is  unreasonable  in  itself,  greatly 
prejudicial  to  petitioners  and  the  negro  trade  in 
general,  highly  injurious  to  the  true  interest  of  the 
Plantations,  and  in  the  consequence  of  it  destructive 
not  only  to  the  whole  Plantation  trade,  but  to  the 
trade  and  navigation  of  these  Kingdoms "  etc. 
Signed,  Rd.  Harris  and  12  others.  1|  pp. 

402.  ii.  Petition  of  Incorporated  Society  of  Merchants  in 
the  City  of  Bristoll  to  the  King.  Praying  for  repeal 
of  above  act,  and  prevention  of  such  a  duty  imposed 
in  the  future  etc.  as  being  of  "  very  great  prejudice  to 
the  trade  of  the  whole  Nation,  particularly  to  us  of 
this  city  who  are  so  greatly  concerned  in  the  African 
trade  "  etc.  1  p. 

402.  iii.  Petition  of  merchants  of  Liverpool  trading  to  the 
coast  of  Africa  and  the  Plantations  to  the  King.  As 
No.  i.  [C.O.  5,  1321.  ff.  62-63r.,  65*;.,  66,  67,  69r., 
70,  71,  7Iv.,  73v.] 

Sept.  29.  403.  Petty  expenses  of  the  Board  of  Trade,  Midsummer 
to  Michaelmas,  (v.  Journal).  6  pp.  [C.O.  388,  79.  Nos. 
30-33.] 

Sept.  30.  404.  Governor  Burnet  to  the  Council  of  Trade  and 
Boston.  Plantations.  I  send  your  Lordships  the  rest  of  the  Votes  of 
the  Assembly  to  the  present  time,  marked  as  I  did  before  that 
your  Lordships  may  see  the  whole  dispute  between  us  in  them. 
I  have  now  reduced  them  to  silence  and  they  seem  to  have 
no  expedient  left  but  to  meet  and  adjourn  from  day  to  day 
and  do  nothing  in  which  way  they  seem  determined  to  go  on  ; 
and  I  think  myself  obliged  to  give  them  no  recess,  which  by 
the  explanatory  charter  they  dare  not  take  of  themselves. 
How  this  will  end  I  cannot  guess.  Your  Lordships  will  see 
in  pag.  81  of  their  Votes  that  they  have  offered  me  a  second 
present  to  make  up  the  sum  of  £3000  for  this  year,  but  as  this 
is  not  settling  a  salary  I  chuse  to  be  wholly  destitute  of  all 
support  rather  than  accept  of  it  in  their  usual  way,  by  which 
they  may  at  any  time  bring  the  same  difficultys  on  me  that 
they  have  on  former  Governours,  and  therefore  I  am  so  far 
from  desiring  to  have  leave  to  depart  from  my  instruction, 
that  I  think  H.M.  authority  in  danger  of  being  lost  in  this 
country,  if  it  be  given  up  in  this  point.  In  the  meantime  I 
have  no  subsistance  at  all  but  from  my  perquisites  from  the 
shipping,  which  amount  to  about  £200  sterling  a  year  now  that 
I  have  raised  them  to  a  par  with  those  of  New  York  etc.  Signed, 
W.  Burnet.  Endorsed,  Reed.  12th  Nov.,  1728,  Read  4th  Feb., 
1729.  Holograph.  3  pp.  [C.O.  5,  870.  ff.  162-163u.] 


214 


COLONIAL   PAPERS. 


1728. 
Sept.  30. 

Boston. 


Sept.  30. 

Antigua. 


405.  Governor  Burnet  to   Mr.    Popple.     I    have   sent  the 
Lords  all  that  has  passed  since  my  former,  and  I  hope  they  will 
think  I  have  said  and  done  all  that  was  possible.     I  shall  wait 
the  issue  which  does  not  seem  very  near,  but  I  will  depend  on 
my  being  supported  at  home.      Signed  and  endorsed  as  preceding. 
Holograph.     1  p.     [C.O.  5,  870.     ff.  160,  161i>."| 

406.  Governor   the   Earl   of  Londonderry   to   the   Council 
of  Trade  and  Plantations.     I   beg  leave    to    acquaint  you  I 
arrived  in  this  Island  the  19th  of  August  last,  and  that  I  caused 
that  day  my  Commission  to  be  read  and  publish'd,  and    the 
Councillors  as  appointed  by  H.M.   Instructions  to  be  sworn. 
I  have  given  the  necessary  directions  to  the  proper  Officers 
here  to  return  me  an  account  of  everything  under  their  manage- 
ment, in  order  that  I  may  form  a  state  of  the  present  condition 
of  the  Island  in  every  respect,  agreeable  to  my  Instructions, 
to  be  transmitted  to  your  Lordships,  which  I  shall  do,  with 
all  the  expedition  immaginable.     Encloses  Minutes  of  Council 
and  Assembly  for  Antigua,  and  has  given  strict  orders  to  the 
Secretaries  and  Clerks  of  the  respective  Councils  and  Assemblies 
to  prepare  for  the  future  copies  of  their  Journals  to  be  trans- 
mitted  etc.     Continues : — I    now   send    your   Lordps.    an    Act 
pass'd  unanimously  by  the  Legislature  of  this  Island   the    22d 
instant,  granting  unto  H.M.  a  tax,  in  order  for  a  settlement 
on  me  dureing  my  Government  here,  and  for  paying  to  me 
one  thousand  pounds  current  money,  on  the  consideration  I 
can  receive  no  benefit  from  the  tax,  the  crop  being  over  and 
the  shipping  gone  from  hence.     As  some  difference  of  opinion 
has   happen'd   about  the  interpretation   of  the   words  in  my 
33d  Instruction  vizt.  (dureing  the  whole  time  of  your  Govern- 
ment there)  whether  by  the  word  there  is  meant  that  I  am  only 
permitted    to    accept    of   a    settlement    dureing    my    personal 
residence  in  any  part  of  my  Government,  or  dureing  my  con- 
tinuance of  my  Commission,   supposeing  I  should  be  absent 
from  it,  I  think  it  convenient  to  mention  this  to  your  Lordships, 
that  for  the  future  the  sense  of  this  Instruction  may  be  so 
explain'd  as  to  leave  no  manner  of  room  to  doubt  thereof; 
but  as  at  present  the  settlement  to  me  is  made  dureing  my 
Government  here,   and  even  to  continue  one  year  after  my 
leaving,  provided,  I  return  again  Chief  Governor,  I  apprehend 
it  to  be  agreeable  to  H.M.  instruction,  and  am  well  satisfied 
with  it.     Your  Lordsps.  will  please  to  observe,  that  the  scheme 
of  the  tax  is  3s.  Qd.  pr.  ton  on  every  ship  or  vessel,  that  shall 
load  partly  or  chiefly  with  the  produce  of  this  Island,  but  at 
the  same  time,  that  not  one  farthing  is  raised  upon  any  ship 
or  vessel  whatsoever,  the  tonnage  being  only  the  measure  of 
my  income,  for  tho'  the  tax  to  pay  me,  is  in  proportion  to  the 
tonnage,  yet  it  is  laid  on  sugar,  rum,  molasses,  cotton,  indigo 
etc.  all  of  them  the  productions  of  this  island  and  not  of  Great 


AMERICA   AND   WEST   INDIES.  215 

1728. 

Brittain,  or  elsewhere,  so  that  in  good  crops  when  many  ships 
come,  my  income  will  be  larger,  and  in  bad  ones,  smaller,  and 
may  be  deem'd  by  a  computation  I  have  made  of  the  tonnage 
for  seven  years  last  past  to  amount,  communibus  annis,  to 
about  £1500  per  annum.  This  tax  (my  Lords)  is  thought  more 
elligible  then  any  yet  raised,  because  the  Governor  thereby 
shares  in  the  good  or  bad  fortune  of  the  people,  and  it  is  paid 
only  by  the  rich  who  are  the  shippers  of  sugar  etc.,  for  the 
middleing  people  and  poor  will  pay  nothing,  and  therefore,  I 
make  no  doubt,  but  it  will  meet  with  your  Lordships  appro- 
bation, and  I  intreat  your  Lorsps.  to  give  it  a  quick  dispatch, 
that  it  may  have  H.M.  royal  assent,  as  soon  as  possible,  which 
will  lay  a  great  obligation  on  me.  I  should  be  very  much 
obliged  to  your  Lorsps.  if  I  could  soon  know  your  opinion  of 
the  Act  for  ascertaining  the  number  of  Assemblymen  for  that 
part  of  St.  Christophers  formerly  belonging  to  the  French, 
for  tho'  tis  highly  necessary  that  that  part  of  the  island  should 
be  represented,  yet  I  cannot  but  conceive  the  methods  prescribed 
by  the  bill  for  that  purpose,  must  be  liable  to  many  objections, 
as  they  clash  with  H.M.  Instructions,  for  'tis  evident  to  me 
by  compareing  the  bill  with  them,  that  there  are  contain'd 
therein,  sundry  things  of  a  very  new  and  extraordinary  nature, 
such  as  ascertaining  the  number  of  members  to  be  elected, 
how  many  each  town  or  district  shall  return,  excludeing  the 
King's  Officers,  even  those  that  have  patents  for  life,  and 
laying  them  under  severe  penaltys,  if  they  meddle  in  elections, 
the  makeing  the  Assembly  annual,  and  prescribeing  the  manner 
of  issuing  writts  contrary  to  their  usual  practice,  and  contrary 
to  that  of  the  other  islands  of  the  Government,  with  a  great 
many  such  like  things,  wherein  the  King's  perogatives  may  be 
greatly  concernd.  Wherefore  I  apprehend  that  bill  ought  not 
to  have  taken  place,  till  confirm'd  by  H.M.,  and  as  I  shall  be 
very  unwilling  to  call  an  Assembly  there,  under  that  law,  till 
I  know  your  Lordships'  opinion  about  it,  I  question  not,  but 
I  shall  have  the  honour  of  your  answer,  as  soon  as  possible,  etc. 
Encloses  names  for  vacancies  in  Council.  Concludes : — As 
soon  as  I  go  to  the  other  islands,  which  will  be  in  few  days,  I 
shall  not  faile  to  do  the  same.  Signed,  Londonderry.  Endorsed, 
Reed.  13th,  Read  17th  Dec.  1728.  2f  large  pp.  Enclosed, 
406.  i.  List  of  Members  of  Council  of  Antigua  (four  in 
England).  Persons  to  fill  up  vacancies  : — Samuel 
Martin,  John  King,  Charles  Dunbar,  Richard  Ash, 
Joshua  Jones,  James  Wetherill.  Endorsed,  Reed.  13th 
Dec.,  1728.  1  p.  [C.O.  152,  16.  ff.  363-365,  366i;.] 

Sept.  30.  407.  C.  Jackson  to  the  Honble.  Coll.  Bladen.  Encloses, 
as  requested,  an  account  of  the  Bahama  Islands.  Signed, 
Cuthbert  Jackson.  Endorsed,  Reed.,  Read  1st  Oct.,  1728. 
J  p.  Enclosed, 


216  COLONIAL   PAPERS. 

1728. 

407.  i.  Mr.    Jackson's    report    upon    the    Bahama    Islands. 

Sketches  history.  The  principal  causes  which  have 
obstructed  the  settling  of  the  place  and  rendered  the 
attempts  of  the  Society  abortive  are,  (i)  Want  of  a 
Civil  Government,  (ii)  the  Lessees'  dues  and  tenths, 
(iii)  Want  of  a,  proper  authentick  power  to  grant 
patents  for  lands.  Braziletto  wood  and  salt  are 
bulky,  and  of  small  value,  and  oil  hazardous  and 
expensive  to  get.  Though  the  present  Lessees  have 
been  very  indulgent  and  not  exacted  their  dues  with 
rigour,  yet  the  very  being  subject  to  such  a  large 
demand  must  be  a  great  discouragement  etc,  3| 
large  pp.  [C.O.  23,  2.  ff.  172,  173-174i;.,  175v.] 

Oct.  1.          408.     Council  of  Trade  and  Plantations  to  Lord  Townshend. 
Whitehall.     Enclose  following  to  be  laid  before  H.M.     Autograph  signatures. 
1  p.     Enclosed, 

408.  i.  Same   to    the    King.     Representation    upon    state    of 

Bahamas  and  complaint  against  Governor  Phenney 
in  reply  to  13th  Aug.  We  have  discoursed  with  Mr. 
Curphey  Chaplain  to  the  Garrison  there,  with  several 
persons  lately  come  from  thence  and  with  the  Agents 
for  Capt.  Phenny,  and  we  find  that  these  Islands  are 
at  present  in  a  declining  state,  both  with  respect  to 
their  commerce  and  to  the  number  of  their  inhabitants. 
We  have  therefore  enquired  into  the  causes  of  this 
alteration,  and  find,  that  the  people  have  lain  under 
many  discouragements,  namely  the  want  of  a  sufficient 
force  to  protect  them,  of  a  civil  Government  properly 
establish'd  for  the  regular  distribution  of  Justice  and 
of  an  Assembly,  whereby  they  may  be  enabled,  to 
make  such  laws  as  may  be  proper  for  their  circum- 
stances ;  to  these  may  be  added  that  no  person 
hitherto  is  sufficiently  empower'd  to  grant  lands  to 
such  of  your  Majesty's  subjects  as  shall  be  dispos'd 
to  settle  there,  and  if  we  are  rightly  inform'd,  the 
quit  rents  intended  to  be  reserved  are  much  larger 
than  shou'd  be  impos'd  on  planters  in  the  infancy  of 
a  Colony.  But  what  in  a  more  particular  manner 
has  discouraged  the  inhabitants  of  late  years  and 
even  obliged  some  of  them  to  quit  the  Colony  has  been 
the  illegal  and  arbitrary  behaviour  of  the  Governor's 
wife,  who  has  monopoliz'd  the  trade  of  those  Islands 
and  retails  to  the  inhabitants  all  commodities  and 
provisions  at  exorbitant  prices,  whereby  she  greatly 
oppresses  your  Majesty's  subjects  ;  and  she  has 
even  carried  her  indiscretion  so  far  as  to  insult  a 
Justice  on  the  Bench  in  the  execution  of  his  duty 
for  not  pronouncing  sentence  according  to  her 


AMERICA  AND   WEST   INDIES.  217 

1728. 

inclination.  We  can  by  no  means  excuse  the  Governor 
in  conniving  at  or  indulging  his  wife  in  so  extravagant 
and  oppressive  a  conduct,  altho'  in  other  respects 
Mr.  Phenney  bears  a  fair  character,  nor  have  we  any 
personal  complaints  against  him  before  us  that  are 
sufficiently  supported  by  proper  evidence.  For  as  to 
the  condemnation  of  John  Wadsworth  by  a  Court 
Martial,  it  appears  to  us  that  the  sentence  of  that 
Court  was  approved  by  their  Excellencies  the  Lords 
Justices  in  1723,  tho'  they  afterwards  pardon'd  the 
said  Wadsworth.  And  as  for  the  second  condemnation 
of  the  same  man  for  another  crime  by  a  Court  of 
Admiralty,  the  Judges  of  that  Court  in  our  humble 
opinion  would  seem  more  properly  responsible  than 
the  Governor.  But  having  no  proper  evidence  of 
this  matter  before  us,  we  shall  send  a  copy  of  the 
complaint  to  Mr.  Phenney  for  his  answer  thereunto. 
However,  in  the  mean  time  considering  of  what 
consequences  the  Bahama  Islands  are  to  the  trade 
of  Great  Britain,  we  humbly  submit  to  your  Majesty 
whether  it  would  not  be  for  your  Majesty's  service 
that  the  Government  of  those  Islands  should  be 
placed  in  the  hands  of  some  person  whose  conduct 
and  abilitys  may  give  all  proper  encouragement  to 
such  planters  as  are  inclinable  to  settle  there. 
Autograph  signatures.  4>  pp.  [C.O.  23,  12.  Nos. 
97,  97  i.  ;  and  24,  1.  pp.  97-101.] 

Oct.  1.  409.  John  Lloyd  to  Lord  Townshend.  Reminds  him  of 
Charles  Town  his  services  in  the  '15.  He  was  the  Secretary  to  the  Post  Office 
s  Carolina  uno^er  Mr.  Craggs,  "  but  for  nine  years  past  have  resided  in 
this  countrey,  because  of  ill  fortune  I  met  with  in  ye  stocks." 
Asks  to  be  appointed  First  of  the  Council,  or  a  commission  to 
be  Lt.  Governor  without  any  salary.  "  What  I  propose  by  it 
is,  a  little  power,  and  perhaps  a  little  profit,  during  the  absence 
of  a  Governor."  Has  been  a  member  of  Assembly  for  eight 
years  and  was  sent  to  England  as  Agent  for  the  country  etc. 
Concludes : — Many  inconveniencies  have  happen'd  by  the 
first  in  the  Council  taking  the  administration  upon  the  decease 
or  absence  of  a  Governor  in  the  past,  for  they  happen  very 
often  to  be  too  little  acquainted  with  ye  affairs  of  ye  world, 
as  is  ye  case  of  our  present  President  etc.  Signed,  John 
Lloyd.  2|  pp.  [C.O.  5,  387.  No.  84.] 

Oct.  1.          410.     Capt.    Warren   to   Mr.    Burchett.     Has   delivered  the 

Soiebay,      orders  of  the   King  of  Spain  to  the  Viceroy  of  Mexico  and 

s.  Carolina,    obtained  from  him  accordingly  restitution  of  the  South  Sea 

Company's  ships  and  effects  seized  in  La  Vera  Cruz  etc.     Visited 


218 


COLONIAL   PAPERS. 


Oct.  3. 

St.  Johns, 
Newfound- 
laud. 


1728. 

the  Havanna  and  brought  off  English  prisoners  thence  etc., 
Describes  movements  of  galleons.  Endorsed,  In  Mr.  Burchett's, 
Nov.  15.  Copy.  2|  pp.  [C.O.  5,  387.  No.  85.] 

411.  Mr.  Keen  to  Mr.  Popple.     I  take  this  opportunity  of 
acquainting  the  Lords  Commissioners  of  a  murder  committed 
the  last  winter  by  Anthony  Steel,  als.  Lee,  uppon  one  of  his 
servants,  which  prisoner  together  with  the  evidences  Thomas 
Carter  and  Philip  Gribble,  I  now  send  in  the  briganteen  Samuel 
etc.  for  London,  to  take  his  tryall.     I  humbly  begg  leave  to  lay 
before  their  Lordps.  the  great  hardships  H.M.  subjects  living 
in   Newf'land,   are  exposed  to,   for  want  of  propper  persons 
duely  authorised  to  administer  justice  in  the  absence  of  the 
Commanders  of  H.M.  ships,  and  espetialy  the  winter  season, 
being  expos'd  to  the  insults  of  ill-minded  men,  who  knowing 
they  cannot  be  punished  in  Newf'land.  commit  many  outrages, 
roberys  and  murders  and  unless  some  care  be  taken  to  suppress 
the    outrages    frequently    committed    the    sober    part    of   the 
inhabitants  will  be  obleadged  to  move  from  their  possessions 
and  seek  their  living  in  a  more  civilised  country  etc.     Neither 
is  here  any  people  willing  to  contribute  to  the  charge  of  sending 
mallifactors  and  evidences  home  that  they  may  be  prosecuted 
(so)  that  I  am  obleadged  at  my  own  charge  to  victuall  the 
prisoner  and  evidences  and  to  pay  their  passages  etc.     Hopes 
that  he  will  receive  consideration  and  that  the  evidences  may  be 
provided  for  etc.    Signed,  W.  Keen.    Endorsed,  Reed.  30th  Nov., 
Read  3rd  Dec.,  1728.    If  pp.    [C.O.  194,  8.  ff.  181,  181  v.,  I82v.] 

412.  Petition    of    Members    of    Church    of    England     of 
Rehoboth,  Barrington  and  Attlebrough  (Mass.)  to  the  King. 
Quote   clause    of   Charter   granting   liberty    of   conscience    etc. 
"  designed  to  protect  such  who  unhappily  dissented  from  the 
established     Church."        Continue  : — Notwithstanding     under 
colour  of  Acts  and  Laws  of  this  Province  formed  and  composed 
altogether  by  such  Separatists,  your  Memorialists  are  continually 
prosecuted,  presented  and  imprisoned  by  them,  for  not  paying 
to    the    support    of    their    Ministers,    notwithstanding    your 
Memorialists  yearly  contribute  to  the  support  and  maintainance 
of  their  Ministers  duly  licenced  by  His  Lordship  the  Bishop 
of  London.     And  tho'  your  Memorialists  made  frequent  appli- 
cations to  the  Great  and  General  Courts  of  said  Province  for 
redress,  they  as  frequently  rejected  the  same,  the  Church  of 
England  haveing  very  few  or  no  advocates  in  either  of  said 
Houses.     Pray  for  protection  from  such  notorious  impositions 
etc.     24  signatures.     1  large  p.     Torn.     [C.O.  5,  10.     No.  189.] 

Oct.  8.  413.     Council  of  Trade  and  Plantations  to  the  Lords  Corn- 

Whitehall,     missioners  of  the  Treasury.     Request  payment  of  Office  expenses 

and  officers'  salaries  for  quarter  ending  Michaelmas.       Account 

annexed.     [C.O.  389,  37.     pp.  293-295.] 


Oct.  4. 


AMERICA  AND   WEST   INDIES. 


219 


1728. 
Oct.  8. 

Whitehall. 

Oct.  8. 

Whitehall. 


Oct.  8. 

Whitehall. 


Oct.  12. 

Barhados. 


Oct.  12. 

Barbados. 


Oct.  16. 

Windsor 
Castle. 


Oct.  17. 

Windsor 
Castle. 


414.  Same  to  the   King.     Propose  that   a  public  seal  be 
ordered  for  Nova  Scotia.     [C.O.  218,  2.     pp.  122,  123.] 

41 5.  Same  to  the  King.     Represent  that  the  Act  of  New 
York  for  preventing  prosecutions  by  informations    "  is  an  high 
encroachment  upon  your  Majesty's  undoubted  prerogative  of 
proceeding  by  way  of  information,  and  of  dangerous  consequence 
to  your  Majesty's  interest,  revenue  and  government  in  that 
Province  "    etc.     Propose  its  repeal.     [C.O.  5,  1125.      p.  120.] 

416.  Mr.  Popple  to  Mr.  Fane.     Encloses,  for  his  opinion 
in  point  of  law,  21  acts  of  Virginia — enumerated — passed  30th 
March  last.     Desires  first  report  upon  the  act  for  levying  a  duty 
upon  slaves  imported,  and  for  appointing  a  Treasurer,    "  which 
their     Lordships     intend     to    take     more     immediately    into 
consideration.     "  [C.O.  5,  1366.     pp.  5—10.] 

41 7.  Governor  Worsley  to  the  Duke  of  Newcastle.     Encloses 
by  first  opportunity  letter  of  thanks  to  H.M.,  for  his  Commission 
as  Governor  etc.,  which  he  published  with  the  usual  solemnities 
on  8th  Oct.     Hopes  for  H.M.   speedy  decision  upon  dispute 
between  Council  and  Assembly  over  Excise  bill  (v.  13th  Sept.), 
"  as  the  chief  duty  is  laid  upon  wine,  which  generally  comes 
in  here  from  Madeira  about  Christmas."     Concludes  : — As  the 
present  General  Assembly  stands  prorogued  to  the  18th  instant, 
I  design  to  dissolve  them,  in  hopes  that  the  next  may  meet  in 
better  temper.     Signed,  Henry  Worsley.     Endorsed,  Rd.  Dec. 
9th.     2  pp.     [C.O.  28,  44.     No.  127.] 

418.  Same    to    the    Council    of    Trade    and    Plantations. 
Duplicate    of    preceding,    mutatis    mutandis.     Signed,    Henry 
Worsley.     Endorsed,  Reed.  10th  Dec.,  1728,  Read  20th  May, 
1729.     2  pp.     [C.O.  28,  20.     ff.  103,  I03v.] 

419.  Duke   of  Newcastle   to   Governor   Burnett.     Encloses 
petition  of  Capt.  Thomas  Doleman  of  Bristol,  merchant,  com- 
plaining  of  the   snow   Elizabeth   having   been   unjustly  seized 
and  condemned  together  with  her  cargo,  as  belonging  to  pyrates 
etc.     I  received  H.M.  commands  etc.  for  you  to  enquire  into  the 
truth  of  what  is  therein  alledged,  and  see  justice  done  to  the 
petitioners,  if  their  complaint  appears  to  be  well  founded,  and 
if  it  be  not,  you  will  send  me  a  true  state  of  the  case  to  be  laid 
before   H.M.    etc.     Signed,   Holies   Newcastle.     [C.O.    324,   36. 
p.  87.] 

420.  H.M.   Commission  to  Woodes  Rogers  to  be  Captain 
of  the  Independent   Company  in   Providence   I.,   in  place  of 
George   Phenny.     Countersigned,   Townshend.     [C.O.   324,   36. 
pp.  97,  98.] 


COLONIAL  PAPERS. 


1728. 
Oct.  17. 

Whitehall. 


Oct.  18. 


Oct.  18. 

Windsor 
Castle. 


421.  Mr.   Popple  to  Mr.  Fane.     Encloses,  for  his  opinion 
in  point  of  law,  by  Tuesday  next,  Excise  Act  of  Barbados, 
1728,   with  amendments   offered   by   Council.       [C.O.   29,    15. 
p.  97.] 

422.  Mr.  Fane  to  the,  Council  of  Trade  and  Plantations. 
Reply  to  preceding.     The  proposed  amendments  "  are  extreamly 
expedient  and  proper,  etc.,  being  entirely  calculated  to  make 
this  bill  both  in  form  and  substance  exactly  agreable  with  the 
former  bills  of  this  kind  pass'd  in  the  said  Island,  and  also  to 
prevent   what   might   be    deem'd   an    encroachment  upon  the 
prerogative   of  the   Crown  as  to  the  manner  of  issuing  and 
applying  the  money  given  by  this  bill."     Signed,  Fran.  Fane. 
Endorsed,    Reed.    21st,    Read   22nd   Oct.,    1728.     f  p.     [C.O. 
28,  20.    ff.  31,  82u]. 

423.  Duke  of  Newcastle    to    the    Council    of    Trade  and 
Plantations.     Encloses  following.     Continues :     This  so  nearly 
concerns  the  Trade  and  Navigation  of  H.M.  Dominions,  the 
promoting  of  which  is  what  the  King  has  most  at  heart,  that 
H.M.  would  have  you  take    it    into    your   most    serious  con- 
sideration, and  propose  such  methods  as  shall  appear  to  you 
most  proper  for  the  putting  an  end  to  the  abuses  and  disorders 
mentioned  by  Lord  Vere,  and  for  encouraging  and  improving 
so  considerable  a  branch  of  the  British  commerce  :    and  as 
you  will  find  that  it's  present  obstruction  is  chiefly  imputed 
to  the  Garrison,  H.M.  would  have  you  lay  before  him  your 
opinion  how  far  the  keeping  one  there  is  necessary  or  usefull 
for  the  protection  of  H.M.  subjects,  and  the  preservation  of 
that  settlement.      Signed,  Holies  Newcastle.     Endorsed,  Reed. 
19th,  Read  22nd  Oct.,  1728.     1|  pp.     Enclosed, 

423.  i.  Commodore  Lord  Vere  Beauclerk  to  Mr.  Burchett. 
Kinsale  in  St.  Johns,  19th  Aug.,  1728.  Pursuant  to 
directions,  I  ordered  the  Squirrel  to  St.  Johns  and  went 
myself  to  Placentia,  where  I  arrived  the  16th  July. 
Upon  complaints  of  the  Admirals  of  the  harbour  of 
several  grievances  and  oppressions  the  Fishery  of  that 
place  lay  under,  I  ordered  a  Court  to  be  held  on  22nd 
July,  in  order  to  settle  everything  in  the  best  manner 
I  could,  but  I  soon  found  my  power  was  not  extensive 
enough  to  redress  what  they  chiefly  complained  of, 
the  fort  and  garrison  which  was  intended  for  their 
security  being  the  sole  cause  of  most  of  the  hardships 
they  suffered.  Their  first  complaint  was  that  every 
year  upon  their  arrival  they  found  the  greatest  part  of 
their  houses  and  stages  broke  down,  and  the  materials 
lost,  that  instead  of  being  able  to  go  immediately  to 
fish,  three  weeks  or  a  month  was  always  taken  up 
to  put  themselves  into  a  condition.  Papers  had 


AMERICA   AND   WEST   INDIES.  221 

1728. 

been  put  up  several  years  following,  promising  rewards 
to  any  would  inform  against  the  aggressors,  but  they 
could  never  gain  any  certain  accounts.  I  examined 
several  of  the  inhabitants  who  had  staid  there  during 
the  winter  seasons,  they  could  none  of  them  deny  its 
being  true  that  the  houses  and  stages  were  demolished 
and  pull'd  down  for  ihe  sake  of  the  timber,  but  I 
could  not  fix  it  on  any  particular  persons,  the  planters 
laying  it  on  the  soldiers  and  they  on  the  planters,  it 
plainly  appeared  by  circumstances  that  both  were 
concerned,  and  for  that  reason  I  could  not  punish  the 
planters,  not  knowing  what  share  of  damage  to  impute 
to  them,  not  having  a  power  to  levy  a  fine  upon  the 
garrison,  which  is  the  usual  and  only  reparation  can 
be  had  and  what  is  practised  in  all  the  other  parts 
of  Newfoundland.  Their  other  complaint  was  that 
they  were  deprived  of  the  greatest  and  best  part  of 
the  Beach  which  is  that  within  the  harbour  and  by 
persons  who  had  no  right  to  it.  I  therefore  sum- 
moned all  those  who  had  any  stage  or  beach  to  produce 
their  titles,  upon  examination  I  found  the  Govr.  of 
the  garrison  laid  claim  to  most  of  the  rooms  and  stages 
within  the  harbour,  and  to  several  without,  but  how 
or  upon  what  grounds  I  really  can't  say,  for  when  he 
was  summon'd  he  refus'd  coming  to  the  Court,  excusing 
himself  by  saying  Govr.  Philips  had  given  him  positive 
orders  not  to  obey  any  summons  or  in  any  manner 
appear  himself  or  suffer  those  under  him  to  appear 
at  the  Court,  by  which  means  the  taverns  and  publick 
houses  being  most  of  them  kept  by  some  of  his  Garrison, 
being  under  his  protection,  do  as  they  please,  and  the 
preventing  disorders  and  riots  is  impossible.  Several 
complaints  were  brought  against  the  Governor  for 
detaining  plantations  that  belonged  to  others,  having 
seized  some  in  the  absence  of  the  owners,  imagining 
they  would  not  have  return'd  again,  and  others  upon 
pretence  of  debts  due  to  him  from  them,  but  as  he 
would  never  settle  the  accounts  nor  prove  the  debts, 
tho'  earnestly  desired  by  the  party's  concerned,  I 
can't  help  concluding  he  possesses  them  very  unjustly. 
As  these  stages  and  rooms  which  he  calls  his  own  are 
within  the  harbour  ;  and  so  much  more  commodious 
than  those  without,  which  are  liable  with  the  least 
bad  weather  to  have  so  great  a  surf  as  not  to  be  able 
to  land  or  wash  their  fish,  and  very  often  damages 
great  quantities  of  it,  the  masters  of  the  ships  hire 
them  every  year  for  so  much,  but  as  I  find  by  the 
copys  of  Capt.  St.  Lo's  papers  which  you  did  me  the 
favour  to  send  me,  that  their  Lops,  have  had  a  plan 


222  COLONIAL   PAPERS. 

1728. 


of  the  Beach  and  a  particular  accot.  from  him  what 
the  stages  and  rooms  were  let  for  last  year,  I  will  not 
trouble  you  again  with  it  etc.  As  I  could  get  no 
certain  accot.,  it  was  impossible  for  me  to  settle  who 
had  a  right  to  the  plantations  and  who  not,  and 
was  obliged  to  leave  it  in  almost  as  much  confusion 
as  I  found  it,  and  here  I  must  beg  leave  to  observe 
the  great  disorders  and  irregularitys  this  must  occasion, 
and  the  detriment  it  must  be  to  the  Fishery,  for 
Placentia  is  allowed  by  everybody  to  be  the  most 
commodious  harbour  and  the  finest  beach  in  the 
world  ;  when  the  French  had  it  100,000  quintals  of 
fish  has  been  seen  at  one  time  upon  it,  whereas  50 
has  been  the  utmost  we  have  ever  made  ;  several 
planters  would  undoubtedly  settle  there  did  they 
not  hear  of  the  oppressions  others  have  met  with, 
which  has  obliged  them  to  quit  the  place,  and  more 
ships  would  most  certainly  go  thither  to  fish,  could 
they  have  convenient  rooms  and  stages  without 
paying  for  them,  but  instead  of  that,  before  the 
arrival  of  the  man  of  war,  they  are  threatned  and 
intimidated  into  a  complyance  of  whatever  is  requir'd 
of  them,  the  Adml's.  powers  are  contemn'd,  their 
Court  represented  as  ridiculous  and  invalid,  and  of 
course  no  justice  to  be  had,  but  this  has  been  already 
represented  by  petitions  from  the  masters  of  ships 
and  other  methods  etc.  Although  I  could  not  settle 
anything  in  the  order  it  ought  to  be,  I  endeavoured 
to  do  all  I  could,  and  as  I  found  the  regard  to  the 
fishing  Admls.  powers  so  mightily  diminished  as 
made  me  justly  apprehend  orders  from  them  would 
be  but  negligently  obey'd,  I  therefore  gave  out  in  my 
own  name  such  as  I  found  absolutely  necessary 
(copies  enclosed),  and  have  enter'd  them  into  a  book, 
which  I  have  left  sealed  up  with  one  of  the  principal 
inhabitants,  to  be  delivered  to  the  next  officer  that 
shall  come  after  me,  that  he  may  know  what  I  did, 
and  my  reasons  for  so  doing.  If  such  a  register  had 
been  kept  ever  since  we  have  had  possession  of  the 
place,  it  would  not  be  so  difficult  to  decide  every  one's 
property,  which  really  as  things  were  I  could  not 
pretend  to  do  without  running  the  risque  of  doing 
injustice.  I  found  disputes  had  been  very  differently 
determined,  sometimes  according  to  the  law  and 
customs  were  in  force  in  the  French's  time,  and  some- 
times according  to  those  observed  in  the  other  parts 
of  Newfoundland,  for  no  new  Act  having  passed  since 
the  acquisition  of  the  place,  and  no  certain  rule 
prescribed  by  the  Heads  of  Enquiry,  every  one  has 


AMERICA   AND   WEST   INDIES.  223 

1728. 

decided  as  he  thought  proper  etc.  I  beg  to  submit 
it  to  their  Lops,  whether  it  will  be  possible  to  remove 
all  the  discouragements  the  Fishery  meets  with  and 
make  it  not  lyable  to  future  oppressions,  if  the 
garrison  continues  upon  the  foot  it  now  is,  and  not 
answerable  to  any  but  in  England  for  their  behaviour 
etc.  I  arrived  here  (i.e.  St.  Johns)  the  1st  instant 
and  found  Capt.  Osborn  had  been  arrived  14  days. 
I  flatter'd  myself  that  as  there  was  no  garrison  here 
to  terrify  or  interfere,  I  should  find  a  stricter  obedience 
to  the  laws  and  regulations  that  had  been  made  for 
the  government  of  the  place,  and  that  the  proper 
regard  was  shew'd  to  the  authority  vested  by  the  law 
in  the  fishing  Admls.,  but  on  the  contrary  I  find  that 
thro'  the  ignorance  of  some  and  negligence  of  more 
for  some  years  past,  they  have  been  so  slighted,  that 
unless  the  Capts.  of  the  men  of  war  are  present  to 
assist  and  countenance  them  at  their  Courts  their 
meetings  would  be  nothing  but  confusion,  and  their 
orders  of  no  use,  which  is  the  reason  we  are  obliged 
to  usurp  a  power,  which  I  apprehend  does  not  properly 
belong  to  us,  of  publishing  orders  in  our  own  names 
to  prevent  as  much  as  we  can  the  threats  the  rioting 
and  disorders,  which,  to  the  great  detriment  of  the 
Fishery  are  generally  practised  in  our  absence  :  The 
great  misfortune,  and  which  I  think  is  the  origine  of 
all  the  rest,  is,  that  nobody  in  the  winter  season  is 
empower'd  to  keep  peace  and  administer  justice, 
that  the  sober  and  industrious  are  every  day  lyable 
to  be  insulted  and  robbed  by  the  idle  and  profligate 
unless  they  can  oppose  them  with  greater  force.  In 
the  Heads  of  Enquiry  there  is  an  article  which  directs 
the  names  of  the  persons  to  be  returned  them  who 
administered  justice  during  the  laste  winter,  but  I 
can't  find  that  we  are  anywhere  authoriz'd  to  empower 
proper  persons  upon  our  leaving  the  country,  which 
is  so  well  known  by  everybody  that  were  we  to  pretend 
to  appoint  any,  not  the  least  regard  would  be  shown 
them.  There  is  a  greater  plenty  of  fish  this  year  in 
all  places  than  has  been  these  15  years  ;  their  only 
complaint  is  want  of  ships  to  carry  it  away,  etc. 
Signed,  Vere  Beauclerk.  Copy.  7$  pp.  [C.O.  194, 
8.  ff.  173-177i;.,  178u.] 

Oct.  18.  424.  Duke  of  Newcastle  to  Governor  Philipps.  H.M.  has 
Windsor  commanded  me  to  send  you  a  copy  of  preceding  letter,  and  to 
signify  to  you  that  you  forthwith  give  me  in  writing,  to  be 
laid  before  H.M.,  an  account  of  what  orders  you  have  at  any 


4  COLONIAL   PAPERS. 

1728. 


time  given  to  the  Lt.  Governor,  or  to  any  other  Officer  there, 
and  of  what  may  have  come  to  your  knowledge  concerning  the 
facts  mentioned  by  Lord  Vere  etc.  Signed,  Holies  Newcastle. 
Annexed, 

424.  i.  Copy  of  Lord  Vere's  letter  preceding.  [C.O.  324,  36. 
pp.  88-97.] 

Oct.  18.  425.  Duke  of  Newcastle  to  the  Council  of  Trade  and 
Windsor  Plantations.  H.M.  having  been  pleased  to  appoint  Woodes 
Rogers  Esqr.  to  be  Governor  of  the  Bahama  Islands,  you  are 
to  prepare  a  Commission  and  Instructions  for  him  etc.  Signed, 
Holies  Newcastle.  Endorsed,  Reed.  19th,  Read  22nd  Oct., 
1728.  |  p.  [C.O.  23,  2.  ff.  176,  177i;.] 

Oct.  23.         426.     Council  of  Trade  and  Plantations  to  Governor  Burnet. 
Whitehall.     Enclose  warrant  for  use  of  new  Seal  of  the  Massachusets  Bay, 

and  direct  him  to  return  the  old,  etc.  v.  14th  Aug.     [C.O.  5, 

916.     p.  174.] 

Oct.  23.         427.     Same  to  the  Duke  of  Newcastle.     Enclose  following 
Whitehall,     to  be  laid  before  H.M.     "  It  is  for  H.M.  service  that  his  Royal 
pleasure    upon   this   matter   should   be    signifyed   as    soon    as 
possible  "  etc.     Annexed, 

427.  i.  Same  to  the  King.  Representation  on  the  draught  of 
the  Excise  Act  prepared  by  the  Assembly  of  Barbados, 
1728  :  "  To  which  several  amendments  have  been 
offered  by  your  Majesty's  Council  there,  and  not 
agreed  to  by  the  Assembly,  who  insist  against 
admitting  any  amendments  to  the  bill  notwithstanding 
the  many  extraordinary  clauses  therein  contained, 
more  particularly  the  two  following  relating  to  utensils 
and  repairs  of  the  Magazines,"  quoted.  Continue  : — 
Whence  it  appears  that  the  Assembly  would  deprive 
the  Governor  of  the  power  given  him  by  your  Majesty 
to  sign  warrants  for  the  issuing  of  moneys  without 
their  approbation  first  particularly  obtain'd  for  that 
purpose,  contrary  to  the  constant  usage  of  that 
Island,  and  of  all  other  your  Majesty's  Colonies. 
Wherefore  etc.,  finding  many  things  therein  derogatory 
to  your  Majesty's  prerogative  and  contrary  to  several 
of  your  Royal  Instructions  to  your  Governor  there, 
for  his  conduct  in  the  issuing  of  money  and  the  passing 
of  bills,  we  thought  it  our  duty  to  lay  these  proceedings 
before  your  Majesty,  that  you  may  be  pleased  to 
declare  your  Royal  disapprobation  thereof,  to  dis- 
courage the  like  attempts  for  the  future.  [C.O.  29, 
15.  pp.  98-102  ;  and  (covering  letter  only,  with 
autograph  signatures)  28,  39.  No.  46.] 


AMERICA   AND   WEST   INDIES. 


225 


1728. 
Oct.  23. 

Whitehall. 


Oct.  26. 

Boston. 


428.  Same  to  Governor  Worsley.     Acknowledge  letters  etc. 
of  20th  July  and  14th  Aug.     Continue  : — We  have  perused  the 
Excise  bill,  as  it  was  prepared  by  the  Assembly,  and  have 
considered  the  several  amendments  proposed  to  be  made  to 
it  by  H.M.  Council,  which  seem  to  be  for  the  most   part   just 
and  reasonable,  and  we  are  of  opinion,  that  you  cannot  give 
your  consent  to  a  bill  conceived  in  such  terms  without  injuring 
the   King's   prerogative,    and   breaking  thro'   several   of  your 
Instructions.     As  H.M.  service  is  very  much  concerned  in  the 
event  of  this  affaire,  we  were  willing  to  give  you  our  thoughts 
upon  it  as  early  as  might  be,  and  we  shall  take  the  first  oppor- 
tunity of  laying  a  state  thereof  before  the  King  and  so  soon 
as   H.M.    shall   have  signifyed  his  pleasure  thereon,   we   shall 
communicate  the  same  to  you.     [C.O.  29,  15.     pp.  102,  103.] 

429.  Governor    Burnet    to    the    Council    of    Trade    and 
Plantations.     I  now  send  to  your  Lordships  the  votes  of  the 
Assembly  published  since  my  last  of  the  30th  of  Sept.  in  which 
your  Lordships  will  observe  that  I  endeavoured  to  bring  them 
out  of  their  inactive  state  by  my  speech  of  the  1st  of  October, 
of  which  they  would  of  themselves  take  no  notice,  and  when 
on  the  5th  the  Council  proposed  to  them  to  join  in  considering 
it,  the  House  put  it  off  to  the  23rd,  and  when  they  met  on  that 
day  they  refused  to  join  with  the  Council,  and  on  the  24th 
they  made  me  an  answer  by  themselves,  which  is  not  only  a 
refusal  of  the  thing  proposed  in  my  last  speech,  but  likewise  a 
persisting  in  disregarding  H.M.  23rd  Instruction  about  fixing 
a  salary.     Upon  this  I  thought  it  proper  to  do  what  I  had  for 
a  week  before  told  them  in  private  discourse  that  I  would  do 
unless  they  would  prevent  it  by  a  complyance,  and  that  is  I 
have  adjourned  the   General  Court  to  Salem,   a  town  about 
20  miles  from  hence  to  meet  on  the  31st  inst.     My  reasons  for 
doing  it  are  these.     Because  this  town  of  Boston  has  shewn 
their  disrespect  and  undutifullness  to  H.M.  by  calling  a  general 
town  meeting  of  all  the  freemen  of  this  town,  in  which  they 
unanimously  gave  instructions  to  their  members  to  vote  against 
fixing  a  salary  on  the  Governour.     This  was  first  done  in  this 
town,  and  has  been  followed  by  some  towns  in  the  Province, 
3  or  4  of  them  have  done  the  same  with  Boston  but  others 
have   had  the    prudence    to    decline    giving  any  instructions 
but  have  left  it  to  their  members.     This  attempt  of  which 
Boston  set  the  example  is  of  so  dangerous  a  nature  to  the 
Constitution  if  it  should  be   drawn  into  precedent,   and  has 
been  so  maliciously  employed  at  this  time,  that  I  thought  it 
necessary  for  the  Government  to  shew  its  resentment  upon  it. 
Because  the  people  of  the  town  are  continually  endeavouring  to 
pervert  the  minds  of  the  Members  that  come  from  the  Country, 
who  it  is  to  be  hoped  will  not  be  so  much  tampered  with  in  the 
Country  and  particularly  at  Salem,  where  I  am  informed  the 

C.P.XXXVI— is 


226  COLONIAL   PAPERS. 

1728. 

people  are  generally  well  inclined,  as  the  Members  for  that  place 
are.  Because  the  whole  profit  of  the  meeting  of  the  Assembly 
is  confined  to  the  town  of  Boston  who  deserve  so  ill  at  the 
hands  of  the  Government ;  and  therefore  their  interest  leads 
them  to  keep  the  Assembly  together  as  long  as  they  can  for 
the  benefit  of  the  town  ;  which  has  often  been  the  occasion 
of  many  tedious  and  needless  Sessions.  And  as  I  believe  it 
will  be  acceptable  to  the  country  to  have  the  expences  of  the 
General  Court  circulate  through  the  principal  towns  of  the 
Province,  which  is  the  method  I  intend  to  pursue,  till  I  have 
orders  from  your  Lordships  which  I  earnestly  intreat  that  I 
may  have  by  the  first  vessel  that  will  sail  for  this  place  in  the 
Spring,  which  will  be  in  February  next.  I  would  now  beg 
leave  to  propose  to  your  Lordships  two  expedients  that  I 
humbly  apprehend  will  be  necessary  to  bring  this  people  to 
reason  and  their  duty,  and  without  which  I  fear  that  H.M. 
authority  here  will  be  treated  with  very  little  respect.  First 
I  hope  your  Lordships  will  think  fit  to  move  H.M.  for  a  dis- 
allowance of  the  Act  for  raising  and  settling  a  Public  Revenue 
for  and  towards  defraying  the  necessary  charges  of  this  Govern- 
ment by  an  emission  of  sixty  thousand  pounds  in  bills  of  credit 
on  this  Province,  but  at  the  same  time  because  it  will  create  a 
good  deal  of  confusion  if  this  disallowance  should  be  final  I 
hope  your  Lordships  will  move  at  the  same  time  for  leave  to 
re-enact  the  whole  substance  of  the  Act,  providing  the  interest 
of  four  per  cent,  be  therein  applyed  to  the  salary  of  the 
Governour  for  the  time  being,  so  that  it  may  be  issued  for 
that  purpose  by  warrants  from  the  Governour  in  Council,  as 
it  comes  in  to  the  Treasury.  The  second  thing  I  humbly  propose 
is,  that  your  Lordships  would  be  pleased  to  lay  before  H.M. 
the  whole  conduct  of  the  Assembly  not  only  in  refusing  to 
comply  with  H.M.  23rd  Instruction,  but  likewise  in  having  the 
confidence  to  charge  H.M.  with  giving  an  Instruction  that  has 
a  direct  tendency  to  weaken  if  not  to  destroy  their  happy  consti- 
tution (pag.  32  and  52  of  their  votes),  an  Instruction  that  is 
in  prejudice  of  the  rights  and  libertys  of  the  inhabitants  of  this 
Province  (pag.  49),  an  Instruction  with  which  a  complyance 
might  justly  be  deemed  a  betraying  the  rights  and  priviledges 
granted  in  the  Charter  (pag.  66),  and  a  bearing  on  their  priviledges 
(pag.  80),  and  is  concluded  by  the  house  to  tend  very  much  to  the 
hurt  of  the  people  of  this  Province  (pag.  103).  This  I  conceive 
to  be  a  charge  of  a  very  high  and  daring  nature,  and  if  it  is  not 
resented  at  home,  will  render  the  Assembly  here  insufferabty 
arrogant.  And  since  H.M.  has  threatened  them  with  the 
consideration  of  the  Legislature  in  what  manner  the  honour  and 
dignity  of  His  Government  ought  to  be  supported  in  case  they 
shall  not  pay  an  immediate  regard  to  His  Royal  Will  and  Pleasure, 
and  now  that  they  have  not  only  refused  to  do  this,  but  have 
made  such  daring  reflections  on  H.M.  upon  account  of  this 


AMERICA   AND   WEST   INDIES. 


227 


1728. 


Oct.  26. 

Boston 


Instruction  I  humbly  submit  it  to  your  Lordships  if  it  is  not 
absolutely  necessary,  that  H.M.  be  moved  to  lay  the  matter 
before  His  Parliament,  that  they  may  see  how  H.M.  has  been 
treated  by  this  Assembly,  and  that  the  two  Houses  may  have 
an  opportunity  thereupon  of  assuring  H.M.  of  their  sense  of 
the  undutifull  behaviour  of  this  Colony,  in  pretending  without 
any  ground  that  His  Instruction  is  any  way  contrary  to  the 
Charter  granted  by  King  William  and  of  their  readiness  in 
assisting  H.M.  to  secure  the  dependance  of  this  province  on 
the  Crown  in  case  they  do  not  comply  with  His  Instruction, 
and  express  their  acknowledgments  of  their  undutifull  behaviour, 
before  the  following  Sessions  of  Parliament.  This  my  Lords 
will  be  no  final  decision  against  their  Charter,  but  will  give 
them  just  apprehensions  of  loosing  it,  if  they  continue  refractory 
and  I  beleive  nothing  less  then  this  will  be  sufficient  to  bring 
them  to  a  true  sense  of  their  duty.  I  must  therefore  humbly 
beg  your  Lordships  to  give  all  possible  dispatch  to  their  affair 
as  being  brought  to  a  crisis,  which  must  inevitably  end  in 
preserving  or  loosing  H.M.  prerogative  in  this  place  ;  and  in 
the  meantime  tho  I  have  little  hopes  of  succeeding  with  the 
Assembly  ;  yet  I  am  determined  to  keep  them  sitting  till  I 
have  your  Lordships  commands  ;  that  the  Country  may  have 
the  full  experience  of  the  vast  charge  that  their  obstinacy 
brings  upon  them  etc.  Encloses  following  and  awaits  the 
Board's  decisive  commands  in  the  Spring  etc.  P.S.  He  is  in- 
formed that  the  acts  have  been  transmitted  etc.  Signed,  W. 
Burnet.  Endorsed,  Reed.  10th,  Read  llth  Dec.,  1728.  7  pp. 
Enclosed, 

429.  i.  Resolutions  of  a  meeting  of  Freeholders  at  Boston, 

Sept.  30,  1728  that  (i)  that  they  would  not  have  a 
salary  settled  upon  a  Governor  for  the  time  being, 
nor  (ii)  on  the  present  Governor  for  a  limited  time. 
Signed,  Samll.  Checkley,  Town  Clerk.  Endorsed  as 
preceding.  [C.O.  5,  870.  ff.  135-139U.] 

430.  Governor  Burnet  to  the  Duke  of  Newcastle.     Encloses 
duplicate    of    Sept.    13th.     Continues : — Since    which    I    have 
received   two   Additional    Instructions    (18th   June) ;     I    have 
ordered    the    directions    about    the    manner    of    praying    for 
the  Royal  Family  to  be  published  etc.     I  must  now  beg  leave 
to  apply  to  your  Grace  for  redress  against  the  Assembly  here, 
who  have  not  only  refused  to  comply  with  H.M.  Instruction 
about  fixing  a  salary,  but  have  had  the  assurance  to  charge 
H.M.  with  an  attempt  therein  to  break  the  priviledges  granted 
to  them  in  their  charter.     Refers  to  enclosed  duplicates  of  letters 
to  Board  of  Trade  for  proposed  expedients  to  bring  them  to  reason 
etc.     Prays  that  the  matter   "  may  be  laid  before  H.M.  as  soon 
as  possible,  and  that  if  it  is  thought  proper  a  resolution  of 
Parliament  may  be  obtained  in  order  to  convince  this  people 


228 

1728. 


Oct.  26. 

Boston. 


Oct.  26. 

Boston. 


COLONIAL   PAPERS. 


that  their  daring  attempts  will  not  be  countenanced  there,  as 
they  pretend  to  hope.  I  continue  the  Assembly  sitting  in  full 
expectation  of  decisive  commands  from  your  Grace,  by  the 
first  vessel  that  will  sail  from  London  in  February  next,  without 
which  I  have  little  reason  to  expect  any  regard  from  them  to 
H.M.  Instruction.  I  hope  your  Grace  will  excuse  my  being 
so  importunate,  since  it  is  a  matter  in  which  H.M.  authority, 
and  prerogative  is  so  nearly  concerned,  and  in  supporting  which 
I  hope  my  zeal  will  be  approved  by  your  Grace."  Signed,  W. 
Burnet.  Endorsed,  R.  10th  Dec.  2  pp.  Enclosed, 

430.  i—  iii.  Duplicates  of  Nos.  387,  404,  429.  [C.O.  5,  898. 
Nos.  46,  46  i-iii.] 

431  .  Governor  Burnet  to  Mr.  Delafaye.  Refers  to  preceding. 
Concludes  :  —  I  hope  for  your  friendship  in  getting  this  affair 
forwarded  with  all  possible  dispatch,  till  which  time  this 
Government  is  of  no  profit,  and  has  no  authority.  Signed  and 
endorsed  as  preceding.  1  p.  [C.O.  5,  898.  No.  47.] 

432.  Same  to  Mr.  Popple.  Will  send  duplicates  of  his  letters 
to  the  Board,  Sept.  13,  30th  and  Oct.  26,  by  the  next  vessel  etc. 
Signed,  W.  Burnet.  Endorsed,  Reed.  10th,  Read  llth  Dec., 
1728.  Holograph.  1  p.  [C.O.  5,  870.  ff.  140, 


Oct.  28. 

Barbados. 


Oct.  28. 

Barbados. 


433.  Governor  Worsley  to  the  Duke  of  Newcastle.     Refers 
to  proposed  dissolution  of  Assembly  v.  12th  Oct.     Continues  :  — 
But  not  finding  any  disposition  in  the   people   here,   to  act 
otherwise  than  they  had  hitherto  done,  and  that  a  new  election 
might  occasion  greater  confusion  in  the  countrey,  I  did  not 
think  it  proper  to  dissolve  them,  neither  shall  I,  till  I  have  the 
honor  of  H.M.  commands  upon  what  they  have  already  done, 
from    whence    only,    I    can    expect,    considering    the    present 
situation  of  affairs  here,  any  alteration  in  their  conduct,  and 
therefore  I  prorogued  them  to  the  12th  of  the  next  month, 
when  I  propose  to  let  them  sit,  for  as  the  duties  upon  wine  are 
the  chief  support  of  this  Government,  and  as  they  generally 
come  in  about  Christmas,  in  case  a  proper  expedient  could  be 
found  out,  by  which  those  duties  may  be  paid,  tho'  the  money 
not  disposed  of,  till  H.M.  pleasure  should  be  known,  a  consider- 
able summ  of  money  may  be  saved  for  the  service  of  this 
Governmt.     Signed,   Henry  Worsley.     Endorsed,   R.   7  Janry. 
2  pp.     [C.O.  28,  44.     No.  128.] 

434.  Same    to    the    Council    of    Trade    and    Plantations. 
Duplicate    of    preceding,    mutatis    mutandis.     Signed,    Henry 
Worsley.     Endorsed,  Read  20th  May,   1729.     2  pp.   [C.O.  28, 
20.     ff.  105,  I05v,  106i>.] 


AMERICA   AND   WEST   INDIES. 


1728. 
Oct.  29. 

Coleniiin 
Street. 


435.  Mr.  De  la  Fontaine  to  Mr.  Popple.  Encloses  following. 
Continues  : — By  the  encouragement  wee  now  have  from  abroad, 
wee  could  engage  allmost  for  any  number.  Those  wee  trans- 
ported to  Pensilvania  wrote  to  their  friends  allways  to  prefer 
Mr.  Missing's  ships  etc.  Signed,  Benja.  de  la  Fontaine. 
Endorsed,  Reed.  28th  Oct.,  1728,  Read  16th  July,  1729. 
Addressed.  |  p.  Enclosed, 

4-35.  i.  Thomas  Missing  to  the  Council  of  Trade  and  Plan- 
tations. His  agents  in  Holland  etc.  assure  him  that 
very  great  numbers  of  Protestant  Palatine  families 
are  willing  to  be  transported  by  him  to  S.  Carolina 
as  soon  as  the  encouragement  to  be  given  them  is 
fixed  etc.  I  p.  [C.O.  5,  360.  .//".  163, 164, 166*;.] 


Oct.  30. 

St.  Johns, 
Newf  land. 


436.  Mr.  Keen  to  Mr.  Popple.  Refers  to  letter  of  Oct.  3. 
Continues : — I  was  desired  by  the  Ld.  Vere  Beauclerk  to 
acquaint  their  Ldshps.  of  anything  happening  after  his  leaving 
etc.,  since  which  divers  ill  actions  and  thefts  has  been  com- 
mitted, insomuch  that  wee  have  scarce  anything  that  wee  can 
well  call  our  own,  our  sheep  and  the  produce  of  our  gardens 
are  stole  from  us,  and  for  want  of  propper  authority  the 
ofenders  altho  convicted  go  unpunished.  Prays  that  persons 
to  administer  justice  during  the  winter  may  be  appointed. 
Continues  : — The  trade  of  Newfland  suffers  much  in  relation 
to  the  culling  of  fish  (that  is  seperating  what  is  merchantable 
from  the  refuse)  many  ignorant  men  taking  bad  for  good  which 
when  at  a  market  turns  out  rotten  and  black,  and  others  refusing 
all  but  the  flour,  which  is  unjust  and  its  not  to  be  prevented 
unless  as  in  all  other  the  Plantations  there  be  sworn  searchers 
or  cullers  appointed,  the  charge  of  a  penny  a  quentall  to  be 
paid  by  the  seller  and  buyer,  which  would  infallibly  prevent 
all  the  frauds  now  committed  and  our  fish  regain  its  credit  in 
forreign  markets,  and  here  are  at  all  times  men  sufficient  that 
would  gladly  be  imployed  in  that  servis  etc.  Signed,  W.  Keen. 
Endorsed,  Read  19th  Dec.,  1728.  If  pp.  [C.O.,  194,  8.  ff. 
185,  185i;.,  186z;.] 


Oct.  30. 

St.  Johns, 
Newf'land. 


437.  Same  to  same.  Begins  as  preceding.  Continues : — 
Since  the  beforegoing  I  have  returnd  me  my  Lord  Vere  Beau- 
clerk's  order  directed  to  the  Admls.  of  Renuse,  (enclosed),  the 
persons  directed  to  have  no't  only  denyd  the  obeying  the  sd. 
order  but  us'd  vile  and  oprobrious  language,  and  persist  in 
doing  the  most  unwarrantable  and  unlawful  actions,  as  indeed 
has  been  the  frequent  customs  of  the  Admils.  of  the  outports, 
being  men  generally  as  ignorant  as  insolent  etc.  In  behalf  of 
the  distrest  inhabitants  I  begg  leave  to  lay  before  their  Ldspps. 
the  necessity  there  is  of  haveing  their  greivances  redrest.  I  have 
resided  here  a  merchant  upwards  of  20  years,  and  am  perfectly 


230  COLONIAL   PAPERS. 

1728. 


acquainted  with  the  nature  and  trade  of  this  country  and  am 
very  well  assured  that  the  decrease  of  the  trade  is  chiefly  oweing 
to  the  want  of  due  administration  of  justice  etc.  Offers  his 
services.  Signed,  W.  Keen.  Endorsed  as  preceding.  2£  pp. 
Enclosed, 

437.  i.  (a)  Commodore  Lord  Vere  Beauclerk  to  the  Admirals 
of  Renouse.  Kinsale.  12th  Sept.,  1728.  Whereas 
I  find  you  have  pulled  down  a  cook-room  and  removed 
land-marks  belonging  to  John  Jenkins,  notwith- 
standing he  produced  proof  of  his  undoubted  right 
to  the  said  plantation,  you  are  hereby  directed  to 
make  him  immediate  satisfaction  etc. 

(b)  Same  to  Same.  4th  Oct.  Whereas  I  find  that 
you  have  had  the  insolence  to  disobey  above  order, 
I  have  ordered  Mr.  Jenkins  to  acquaint  Mr.  Keen, 
if  you  do  not  immediately  make  him  satisfaction, 
who  upon  my  desire  will  represent  your  disobedience 
to  the  Lords  Commrs.  of  Trade  etc.  (Benjamin  Jolley, 
Adml.)  Copy.  If  pp. 

437.  ii.  Mr.  Jenkins  to  Mr.  Keen.  Renouse.  Oct.  21st, 
1728.  The  Admirals  made  slight  of  my  Lord  Vere's 
order  etc.,  and  say  they  will  answer  to  the  Lords 
Commissioners  for  what  they  have  done,  and  that  the 
Lieuts.  comes  along  shore  only  to  get  money  but  not 
to  do  justice  etc.  Signed,  John  Jenkins.  Witnessed 
by,  R.  Rowes,  his  mark,  Ester  Rowes,  John  Chappell. 
Endorsed,  Read  19th  Dec.,  1728.  1  p.  [C.O.  194,  8. 
ff.  187-189,  190, 


Oct.  30.  438.  Lt.  Governor  Pitt  to  the  Duke  of  Newcastle.  I 
Bermuda,  arrived  at  the  Bermuda  Islands  the  2nd  of  Sept.  last  and  upon 
my  arrivall  found  the  cuntry  had  been  much  damnified,  by  a 
violent  hurricane,  which  has  by  many  ways  and  means  reduced 
this  cuntry  to  great  scarcity  etc.  Upon  my  inspecting  into 
the  state  of  the  administration  of  Justice,  I  found  it  attended 
with  many  inconveniencys,  and  as  many  delays,  by  reason 
of  the  accumulation  of  offices,  on  some  persons,  and  many  of 
them  incongruous  to  each  other  ;  as  the  judges  of  the  common 
pleas  ;  being  Councillers  and  some  of  them  allso  justices  of 
the  Peace,  which  greviances  appearing  to  me  in  the  infancy 
of  my  government,  as  I  may  presume  to  say,  did  require  an 
imediate  alteration,  by  constituting  judges  not  Councillers, 
and  supplying  the  -place  of  Justices,  in  the  room  of  the 
Councillers,  who  before  acted  in  a  triple  capacity  etc.  I  have 
appointed  Coll.  WTilliam  Outterbridge  Cheife  Justice,  whose 
abilitys  and  good  intentions,  to  promote  peace  and  neighbourly 
concord,  are  well  known  throughout  the  whole  country,  etc. 
Refers  to  a  letter  he  has  written  to  Mr.  Delafaye.  v.  30th  Nov. 
Signed,  John  Pitt.  Feb.  14th.  1  p.  [C.O.  37,  29.  No.  1.] 


AMERICA   AND   WEST   INDIES. 


231 


1728. 
Nov.  1. 

St.  James's. 


Nov.  1. 


439.  Order  of  King  in  Council.     Ordered,  upon  a  memorial 
from  the  Lords  Commissioners  of  the  Admiralty,  that  warrants 
be   prepared  for  commissions  to  pass  under  the  Great  Seal  for 
trying  all  such  pyrates,  as  are,  or  shall  be  taken  in  any  of  H.M. 
Plantations,  according  to  the  sevll.  acts  of  Parliament  in  that 
behalf.     The  Lords  Commissioners  for  Trade  and  Plantations 
are  forthwith  to  present  to  H.M.  at  this  Board,  the  names  of 
such  persons  as  they  shall  think  proper  for  executing  the  said 
Commissions,  and  which  of  the  Plantations  may  be  fitly  compre- 
hended within  each  Commission  ;    and  likewise  whatever  they 
shall  think  necessary  for  the  effectual  performance  of  the  said 
Commissions.     Signed,  Temple  Stanyan.     Endorsed,  Reed.  1st, 
Read  6th  Nov.,  1728.     1  p.     [C.O.  323,  8.     Wo.  93.] 

440.  Governor  Philipps  to  the  Duke  of  Newcastle.       In 
reply  to  orders  of  18th  Nov.  encloses  copies  of  his  proceedings 
with  the  Lt.  Gov.  and  Garrison  of  Placentia  in  relation  to  the 
Fishery,    "  which  will  I  hope  be  found  plain  evidence,  that 
the  orders  I  gave  were  literally  agreeable  with  my  Instructions, 
and  not  such  as  that  gentleman  falsly  alledg'd  to  excuse  his 
appearance,   when  call'd  to  be  examined,   for  it  will  appear 
demonstrably  that  upon  that  occasion  in  his  answer  to  Lord 
Vere  he  must  have  wrested  the  words  of  the  order  (which  forbid 
his  medling  with  the  Fishery  in  any  manner  whatsoever)  to 
colour  his  refusal  to  appear  at  that  Court  which  he  was  conscious 
wou'd  enquire  into  facts  that  he  cou'd  not  justify  "    etc.     Has 
no   knowledge  of  the  facts  except  by  common  report,  no  com- 
plaint having  been  made  to  him  etc.     Continues  : — Nevertheless 
being    jealous    of   the    Lieut.    Governour's    conduct,    in    that 
particular  from  what  had  been  reported,  I  gave  a  deputation 
to  the  Major  of  the  Regiment  to  go  to  Placentia  and  to  enquire 
into  the   state   of  the   affairs  between  the   Garrison  and  the 
Fishery,  which  happen'd  at  the  time  when  Lord  Muskery  was 
in  the  Harbour  to  whom  the  said  Commission  was  communi- 
cated, when  the  planters  and  masters  of  vessells  being  call'd 
together  according  to  my  directions,  and  the  Articles  of  Enquiry 
read  to  them  (the  Lieut.  Govr.  present)  they  were  all  silent, 
but  whether  thro'  fear  or  the  want  of  just  reason  of  complaint 
I  cannot  determine  etc.     Upon  the  delivering  up  of  Placentia 
the  French  proprietors  had  leave  to  dispose  of  their  effects, 
which  the  former  Lieut.  Govr.  pretended  to  have  bought,  and 
when  reed,  convey'd  his  right  to  the  present  Lieut.  Govr.,  by 
which  he  now  claims  those  beaches  and  fishing  rooms,  whether 
this  be  not  a  breach  of  orders  in  both  is  submitted  to  H.M. 
It  is  to  be  wish'd  that  as  the  disposition  of  that  garrison  has 
been  so  much  chang'd  since  the  establishment  was  made  for  a 
Lieut.  Govr.  as  to  be  reduc'd  from  five  companys  to  one  (which 
is  not  a  proper  command  for  such  an  officer),  that  the  Lieut. 
Govr.  might  be  remov'd  to  Canso  where  the  other  four  companys 


232 


COLONIAL   PAPERS. 


1728. 


Nov.  4. 

N. 
Providence 


are  posted,  or  otherwise  dispos'd  of  as  H.M.  shall  think  fit,  by 
which  removal  the  Fishery  at  Placentia  will  be  freed  from  any 
future  disturbance.  Signed,  R.  Philipps.  3  pp.  Enclosed, 

440.  i.  Copies    of   Governor   Philipps'    orders   to   Lt.    Govr. 

Gledhill,  4th  May,  1720,  and  18th  July,  1722,  and 
commission  to  Major  Cosby,  18th  July,  1722,  to  hold 
an  enquiry  etc.,  referred  to  in  preceding.  4  pp. 
[C.O.  217,  38.  Nos.  21,  21  i.] 

441.  Governor  Phenney    to    the    Council    of    Trade    and 
Plantations.      Acknowledges    letter    of    31st    Aug.    1727,    and 
thanks  for  their  recommendation  for  stores  of  war  mentioned 
in  letter  of  15th  May.     Continues  : — Walpole  Fort  which  I  am 
building  at  the  East  entrance  of  the  harbour  I  hope  will  be 
finish'd  with  God's  blessing  in  about  six  months,  but  I  shall 
not  be  able  to  mount  any  cannon  till  I  get  a  supply  of  carriages. 
By  a  letter  from  the  Assiento  Factor  at  the  Havana  I  am 
inform'd  that  on  the  9th  Sept.  the  Spaniards  publish'd  a  truce 
for   seven    years   establishing   the    Assiento   according   to   it's 
contract,  and  hope  our  small  vessels  may  reap  the  benefit  of 
these  islands,  with  more  security  than  they  have  done  for  some 
time  past.     P.S.     By  the  Guardland,  Capt.  Anson.     The  Naval 
Officer  being  out  of  the  way,  I  am  oblig'd  to  defer  the  last 
quarter's     Customhouse     papers     etc.      Signed,    G.    Phenney. 
Endorsed,  Reed.  16th  Feb.,  Read  1st  May,  1729.     2  pp.     [C.O. 
23,  2.     ff.  186,  186».,  187i>.] 

442.  Governor  Phenney  to  the  Duke  of  Newcastle.     Signed, 
G.  Phenney.     \\pp.     Enclosed, 

442,  i,  ii.  List  of  ships  entered  and  cleared  at  N.  Providence, 
24th  March — 25th  June,  1728.  Inwards,  6  ;  Out- 
wards, 8  (with  rum,  fruit,  turtle  and  whale  oil),  to 
S.  Carolina  (4),  N.  York  (1).  Bermuda  (2),  Jamaica 
(1).  Signed,  Jno.  Warner,  Naval  Officer.  4  pp. 

442.  iii.  Answers  to  Queries  of  the  Board  of  Trade,  1728. 
As  before.  Negroes  imported,  1728,  6.  9f  pp. 
[C.O.  23,  14.  ff.  60,  60i>.,  61*;.,  62*;.,  63,  64t>.,  65, 
66-70i;.] 

Nov.  6.  443.  Order  of  King  in  Council.  Approving  representation 
st.  James's  No.  449,  and  ordering  the  names  of  persons  contained  in  said 
report  to  be  inserted  in  the  commissions  for  trying  pirates, 
with  a  specification  of  the  particular  Plantations  represented 
by  the  said  report  as  proper  to  be  comprehended  in  each  com- 
mission. Signed,  Temple  Stanyan.  Endorsed,  Reed.  13th, 
Read  20th  Nov.,  1728.  1  p.  [C.O.  323,  8.  No.  95.] 

Nov.  6.          444.     Order  of  King  in  Council.     Referring  following  to  the 

St.  James's.    Council  of  Trade  and  Plantations,  who  are   "  to  consider  thereof, 

and  lay  before  H.M.  such  methods  as  will  be  most  effectual  to 


Nov.  4. 

N. 
Providence. 


AMERICA   AND    WEST   INDIES. 


23:3 


1728. 


prevent  the  destruction  of  the  woods  in  those  parts  and  also 

their  opinion  of  the  necessity  and  utility  of  building  a  fort  at 

Casco     Bay     as     is     proposed."       Signed,     Temple     Stan  van. 

Endorsed,  Reed.  9th,  Read  26th  Nov.,  1728.     l£  pp.    Enclosed, 

444.  i.  Lords  Commissioners  of  the  Admiralty  to  the  Duke 

of    Newcastle.     Admiralty    Office.     4th    Oct.     1728. 

Enclose  following,    "  that  you  may  be  informed  of  the 

great  difficulties  found    in    procuring   masts  in  those 

parts  for  the  use  of  the  Navy,  occasioned  by  the  want 

of  due   care   to   preserve   the   woods  "     etc.     Signed, 

Jo.  Cockburn,  Jno.  Norris,  Cha.  Wager.     Copy.     1  p. 

444.  ii.  Commissioners     of    the    Navy     to     Mr.    Burchett. 

Navy  Office.     2nd  Oct.,  1728.     Enclose  following.     5 

signatures.     Copy.     1  p. 

444.  iii.  Ralph  Gulston,  Contractor  for  supplying  H.M.  Navy 
with  New  England  masts,  to  the  Commissioners  of 
the  Navy.  2nd  Oct.,  1728.  Represents  that  it  being 
impracticable  to  get  masts  in  New  Hampshire  by 
reason  of  the  great  waste  of  white  pine  trees  of  late 
years,  he  was  obliged  to  send  a  number  of  men,  cattle, 
and  materials  along  the  coast  further  eastward  to 
procure  them  ;  but  that,  for  want  of  a  fort  at  Casco 
Bay  to  protect  his  people,  they  are  very  much  exposed 
to  the  Indians,  who  have  already  once  annoyed  and 
driven  them  from  their  work  etc.  Apprehension  of  the 
Indians  is  the  chief  occasion  of  that  part  of  the  country 
being  so  thin  peopled  etc.  A  fort  would  encourage 
inhabitants  and  not  cost  more  than  £500  sterl.  etc. 
Copy.  1|  pp.  [C.O.  5,  870.  ff.  127-128,  129,  130, 
180v., 


Nov.  6.          445.     Order  of  King  in  Council.     Referring  to  Committee 
st.  James's,    representation  of  23rd  Oct.  and  draft  of  excise  bill  of  Barbados. 
Signed,   Temple  Stanyan.     Endorsed,   Reed.   12th,   Read  20th 
Nov.  1728.     f  p.     [C.O.  28,  20.     ff.  72,  78u.] 

Nov.  6.  446.  Lt.  Governor  Gooch  to  the  Council  of  Trade  and 
Virginia.  Plantations.  The  time  being  now  expired  wherein  his  late 
Majesty  was  pleased  to  exempt  the  inhabitants  of  the  two 
frontier  Counties  of  Brunswick  and  Spotsilvania  from  the 
payment  of  quit  rents  ;  there  appear  very  great  difficulties 
in  forming  the  rent  roll  of  those  counties  occasioned  by  some 
former  resolutions  in  the  time  of  Governor  Drysdale's  adminis- 
tration, and  upon  which  no  positive  directions  have  yet  been 
received  from  your  Lordships.  For  I  find  in  the  Minutes  of 
Council  of  the  23rd  of  Aprill  1724  an  order  to  the  Officers  of 
the  Revenue  not  to  demand  either  the  rights  or  quit  rents  for 
lands  granted  in  those  counties  from  their  first  erection  to  that 
time,  lest  the  acceptance  of  such  payments  should  be  construed 


COLONIAL   PAPERS. 

1728. 

an  allowance  and  approbation  of  some  large  grants  of  land, 
which  were  then  judged  to  be  made  contrary  to  H.M.  intentions. 
According  to  this  resolution  I  find  that  the  officers  of  the 
Revenue  have  hitherto  made  no  demand  of  the  quit  rents  for 
any  of  those  great  tracts  of  land,  which  have  been  held  by  the 
patentees  for  six  or  seven  years  past,  and  that  they  have  even 
thought  themselves  obliged  to  refuse  the  quit  rents  of  such 
lands  when  tendered  by  the  present  possessors  ;  to  which  they 
have  been  the  rather  determined  by  a  paragraph  in  your 
Lordships  letter  to  Mr.  Drysdale  of  the  30th  of  June  1726, 
wherein  your  Lordships  are  pleased  to  intimate  that  as  Col. 
Spotswood  had  petitioned  H.M.  upon  the  subject  of  those 
grants,  you  were  willing  to  wait  some  time  before  you  signified 
your  thoughts  upon  that  matter.  This  being  the  last  intimation 
received  from  your  Lordships  on  this  subject,  I  thought  fit, 
taking  the  advice  of  the  Council,  to  wait  your  Lordships  further 
pleasure  before  any  demand  be  made  for  those  quit  rents.  I 
shal  not  take  upon  me  to  offer  my  own  sentiments  in  an  affair 
which  has  been  so  long  under  the  consideration  of  your  Lord- 
ships, and  wherein  I  understand  the  King's  Council  have  been 
consulted  in  point  of  law  ;  But  I  shal  beg  leave  to  say  that  tho' 
the  persons  who  first  took  up  those  large  tracts  of  land  upon  the 
supposition  that  the  King  would  grant  all  that  the  Assembly 
petitioned  for,  were  in  the  wrong  to  proceed  so  far  without 
H.M.  approbation  ;  yet  I  am  credibly  informed  that  without 
taking  up  those  large  tracts  upon  which  great  improvements 
were  necessary  to  be  made,  those  counties  would  not  have  been 
settled  so  speedily  as  they  have  been,  and  much  of  that  land 
which  has  been  seated  in  small  parcells  would  in  all  probability 
have  remained  to  this  day  desolate,  as  may  be  seen  in  the 
County  of  Brunswick,  which  having  but  few  great  tracts  of 
land  taken  up  in  it  by  men  of  substance,  hath  advanced  very 
little  in  the  number  of  its  inhabitants  in  proportion  to  the  other 
county  Spotsilvania  where  the  greatest  tracts  have  been  granted 
and  possessed,  and  thereby  given  encouragement  to  the  meaner 
sort  of  people  to  seat  themselves  as  it  were  under  the  shade 
and  protection  of  the  greater.  By  this  method  of  reasoning  I 
am  led  to  think  that  there  is  some  favour  due  to  those  who 
have  thus  adventured  to  promote  the  settlement  of  those  new 
frontiers  :  but  whether  H.M.  will  think  fit  to  extend  his  bounty 
to  them  in  easing  them  of  paying  for  their  rights,  which  still 
remain  unsatisfied,  or  in  any  other  exemption  in  respect  to 
their  quit  rents  must  depend  on  what  your  Lordships  shall 
think  proper  to  represent  to  H.M.  in  their  favour  :  though  I 
must  beg  leave  to  offer  my  opinion,  that  the  discharging  them 
from  the  payment  of  the  rights  would  be  the  most  reasonable, 
as  it  puts  them  on  the  equal  foot  with  the  rest  of  the  inhabitants 
of  those  counties  who  have  lesser  portions  of  land  ;  and  the 
payment  of  their  quit  rents  only  from  the  time  of  their  grants 


AMERICA   AM)    \VKST    INDIES. 


1  728. 


Nov.  6. 

St.  James's. 


Nov.  6. 

St.  James's. 


Nov.  6. 

Whitehall. 


Nov.  6. 

Whitehall. 


would  ballance  the  advantage  they  have  had  over  others  in 
taking  up  those  great  tracts,  when  these  have  been  confined  to 
one  thousand  acres  exempt  from  both  payments.  There  is 
one  consideration  more  which  weighs  much  with  me  and  makes 
me  wish  that  some  indulgence  may  be  allowed  in  the  matter 
of  the  rights,  and  that  is,  to  prevent  abundance  of  law  suits 
which  will  arise  on  the  bonds  taken  for  those  rights,  which 
however  they  may  be  determined,  cannot  but  create  discontents 
and  murmurings  where  so  many  people's  interests  are  con- 
cerned. And  if  Col.  Spotswood  in  regard  to  the  great  expence 
he  has  been  at  on  his  settlement,  and  the  misfortunes  attending 
his  undertakings  ever  since,  has  the  good  luck  to  receive  any 
particular  mark  of  H.M.  favour,  your  Lordships  will  give  me 
leave  to  hope  that  the  same  bounty  will  be  extended  to  the 
other  patentees,  who  have  also  laid  out  considerable  sums  in 
seating  and  improving  their  several  tracts.  I  have  to  add  that 
whatever  H.M.  pleasure  may  be  in  this  matter,  I  beg  of  your 
Lordships  a  speedy  signification  thereof,  that  the  officers  of 
the  Revenue  may  no  longer  remain  in  suspence,  and  that  the 
people  may  know  what  they  have  to  expect.  I  shal  not  trouble 
your  Lordships  with  any  other  affairs  relating  to  this  Govern- 
ment, until  I  have  an  opportunity  to  send  the  Journals  of  the 
Council,  this  being  intended  for  an  outport  ship,  and  I  presume 
but  an  uncertain  conveyance.  Signed,  William  Gooch. 
Endorsed,  Reed.  2nd  April,  Read  16th  May,  1729.  Holograph. 
2|  pp.  [C.O.  5,  1321.  ff.  106-107i;.] 

447.  Order  of  King  in  Council.     Approving  representation 
of    Board    of    Trade,    and    ordering    that    a    draught     of    a 
publick  seal  for  Nova  Scotia  be  prepared  etc.     Signed,  Temple 
Stanyan.     Endorsed,  Reed.  14th,  Read  26th  Nov.,  1728.     f  p. 
[C.O.  217,  5.    ff.  95,  96u.] 

448.  Order   of   King   in    Council.     Approving   draught   of 
additional  Instruction  for  Governor  Hunter,   concerning  Col. 
Lilly's    salary.     Signed,    Temple    Stanyan.     Endorsed,    Reed., 
Read  13th  Nov.,  1728.     f  p.     [C.O.  137,  17.    ff.  80,  Slv.] 

449.  Council  of  Trade  and  Plantations  to  the  King.     In 
obedience  to  Order  of  1st  Nov.,  present  names  of  persons  in  the 
several  Colonies  proper  to  be  inserted  in  the  new  Commission 
for  trying  pirates  in  the  Plantations.     Printed,  N.  J.  Archives, 
1st  ser.  V,  196.     [C.O.  324,  11.     pp.  111-133.] 

450.  Same  to  the  Duke  of  Newcastle.     Enclose  extract  of 
Governor    Worsley's    letter,    20th    July,    with    Capt.    Morris' 
deposition,  relating  to  the  capture  of  a  merchant  ship  by  a 
Spanish  privateer  since  the  cessation  of  arms,  in  order  to  their 
being  laid  before  H.M.     Enclose  list  of  losses  suffered  by  H.M. 


230 


COLONIAL   PAPERS. 


1728. 

subjects  from  the  Spaniards,  "  which  have  come  to  our  hands 
since  our  Representation  of  June  20th.  Autograph  signatures. 
1  p.  Enclosed, 

450.  i.  Extract  from  Governor  Worsley's  letter,  20th  July. 

450.  ii,  iii.    Depositions  as  to  seizure  of  the  Dolphin.     Copies 

of  20th  July  enc,  i,  ii.      [C.O.  28,  39.     Nos.    47,  47  i, 

ii  ;      and     389,     28.     pp.     363-365 ;       and     (without 

enclosures)  29,  15.     p.  104.] 

Nov.  6.          451.     Order  of  Lords  Justices  in  Council.     Repealing  Act 

st.  James's.    of  New   York  for  preventing  prosecutions   by   informations,  in 

accordance  with  representation   of  Board  of  Trade.     Signed, 

Temple    Stanyan.     Endorsed,    Reed.,    Read   13th   Nov,     1728. 

1|  pp.     [C.O.  5,  1054.    ff.  290,  290z;.,  291t;.] 


Nov.  7. 

Jam. 


Nov.  8. 

Barbadoes. 


452.  Governor  Hunter  to  Mr.  Stanyan.     Abstract.  "  I  have 
not  had  the  pleasure  of  any  of  your  commands  tho'  I  have  begg'd 
hard  for  them  "  etc.     The  Assembly,  further  prorogu'd  to  22nd 
Jan.,  will,    he   has  reason  to  believe,   "  meet  in  better  temper, 
having  had  time  to  chew  upon  that  sugar  bill  wh.  inflam'd  them." 
Wishes  the  Lords  of  Trade  would  send  their  opinion  on  that 
bill,  for  the  blame  for  not  passing  it  lies  on  him,   "  tho'  I  offer'd 
in  Council  the  amendt.  of  inserting  ye  clause  suspending  the 
executn.  of  it  till  H.M.  pleasure  were  known,  but  that  small 
part  of  ye  Council  (being  in  number  five  only)  would  not  accept 
of  that  and  pass'd  the  bill  in  haste,  tho'  desir'd  by  one  of  that 
number  to  putt  off  the  matter  till  Tuesday  when  there  would 
be  a  fuller  Council.     Our  new  settlement  goes  on  at  Port  Antonio 
with  successe,  a  great  many  family's  are  already  there,  and  if 
the  explanatory  act  wch.  I  sent  home  were  once  approv'd,  I 
really  believe  it  will  be  in  a  few  years  the  best  in  this  Island. 
I  beg  of  you  to  know  what  to  do  in  Mr.  Coleman's  affair"  etc. 

P.S.  The  Spanish  privateers  continue  to  infest  and  rob 
us,  and  are  like  to  do  so  let  it  be  peace  or  war.  Signed,  Ro. 
Hunter.  Endorsed,  Rd.  Jan.  14th.  Holograph,  2  pp.  [C.O. 
137,  53.  ff.  90,  900.,  91t;.] 

453.  Governor    Worsley    to    the    Duke    of    Newcastle.     I 
design  to  lay  before  the  Assembly,  prorogued  to  the  12th  [sic] 
instant  (t;.  Oct.  12  and  28)  H.M.  21st  and  22nd  Instructions, 
relating  to  the  adjournment  and  the  Speaker  of  Assembly  etc. 
Encloses  Act  to  reduce  the  rate  of  interest.     Continues  : — It  passed 
the  Assembly  nemine  contradicente  as  it  did  also  the  Council  ; 
as  it  was  so  popular  a  bill,  and  as  they  are  best  judges  of  their 
own  circumstances,  I  gave  my  consent  to  it.     But  I  can't  help 
making   one   observation,    that   considering   there   can   be   no 
greater  reason  for  the  reducing  of  interest,  than  the  plenty  of 
money,  I  am  surprised  to  find  them  assert  in  their  answer  to 


AMERICA   AND   WEST   INDIES.  237 

1728. 

the  Counsellors'  reasons  for  the  amendments  to  the  Excise 
bill,  that  the  publick  annual  levy  did  once  in  every  year  amass 
all  the  publick  cash  together  into  my  coffers,  and  upon 
this  head,  I  beg  leave  further  to  observe  to  your  Grace  that 
upon  my  arrival  here,  the  Island  was  in  debt  £30,935  8s.  10|d., 
as  appears  by  an  estimate  of  the  publick  debts  delivered  to  me 
at  my  first  arrival  by  the  Committee  of  publick  accounts  etc., 
and  yet  this  great  debt  has  been  almost  paid  off,  besides  the 
payment  of  the  annual  expence  of  the  Island,  and  if  Excise  bill 
for  this  year  had  been  continued  in  the  usual  way,  this  Island 
would  have  had,  by  this  time  twelve  months  by  computation, 
all  their  debts  paid,  and  £2000  in  cash.  Encloses  Act  for  the 
encouragement  of  William  Ramsden,  Esq.  in  his  new  improvement 
of  cattle  mills  for  grinding  sugar  canes.  Continues  : — As  I  am 
obliged  to  issue  out  a  new  Commission  of  the  Peace,  that  the 
Assembly  may  not  say  that  I  exasperate,  maletrate,  insult 
and  abuse  them,  as  they  set  forth  in  their  petition  etc.,  I  design 
not  to  leave  out  of  the  said  Commission  any  of  the  Gentlemen  of 
the  Assembly  who  are  now  in  Commission,  notwithstanding  their 
late  conduct  towards  me,  as  well  as  to  the  Council,  in  that  they 
have  refer'd  the  dispute  betwixt  the  Council  and  them  to  H.M. 
for  his  determination,  when  I  beg  your  Grace  I  may  have  the 
honor  of  H.M.  commands,  whether  such  Gentlemen  may  be 
employed  in  the  Government.  In  relation  to  the  extraordinary 
summs  the  Assembly  in  their  answer  to  the  Counsellrs.  reasons 
against  the  Excise  bill  pretend  to  say  I  have  allowed  the  Store- 
keepers for  flags,  I  have  enclosed  to  your  Grace  a  copy  of  the 
former  Storekeepers  disbursements  before  my  arrival  here, 
by  which  your  Grace  will  see  that  flaggs  have  been  charged  at 
the  same,  or  greater  prices,  before  my  arrival,  etc.  As  I  had 
granted  orders  for  the  inclosed  disbursements  of  Collo.  Leslies, 
I  have  had  them  reexamined  in  a  full  Council,  article  by  article, 
for  which  he  produced  vouchers,  and  after  the  examination  of 
them,  I  told  the  Council,  that  if  they  thought  it  just  to  cut  off 
any  part  of  the  said  disbursements,  I  would  give  my  consent 
to  it,  and  I  asked  every  member  of  the  Council,  one  by  one, 
their  opinions,  and  they  all  agreed  unanimously  to  the  accounts  ; 
etc.  Repeats  part  of  13th  Sept.  Encloses  "  the  two  last  days 
Minutes  of  the  Assembly  of  the  10th  and  14th  of  September 
last,  by  which  your  Grace  will  see,  that  they  continued  to  ad- 
journ themselves  without  my  leave  for  upwards  of  three  weeks, 
tho'  at  the  same  time,  had  I  adjourned  or  prorogued  them  so 
long,  probably  they  might  have  made  it  a  handle  of  complaint 
against  me."  Signed,  Henry  Worsley.  Endorsed,  Rd.  Jan. 
19th.  7  pp.  Enclosed, 

453.  i — iv.    Account    of    disbursements    for    the    Magazine, 

1721-1723,    1726,    1727.     Copies.     4    pp.     [C.O.    28, 

44.     Nos.  129,  129  i— iv.] 


238 


COLONIAL   PAPERS. 


1728. 

Nov.  8. 

Barbado's. 


Nov.  9. 

Jamaica. 


Nov.  9. 

Jamaica. 


454.  Governor  Worsley  to  the  Council  of  Trade  and  Plan- 
tations. Duplicate  of  preceding  covering  letter,  mutatis 
mutandis.  Signed,  Henry  Worsley.  Endorsed,  Reed.  16th 
Jan.,  Read  20th  May,  1729.  6  pp.  Enclosed, 

454.  i.  Journal  of  Assembly  of  Barbados,  10th  and  14th 
Sept.,  1728.  Copy.  Signed,  Robt.  Warren,  Cl.  2  pp. 

454.  ii-v.  Duplicates   of  Nos.    453   i-iv.       Endorsed,   Reed. 

16th   Jan.,    1720.     6  pp.     [C.O.,    28,    20.     ff.    107- 
109u.,  110t>.— 114,  115,  116,  117,  1220.] 

455.  Governor  Hunter  to  the  Council  of  Trade  and  Plan- 
tations.    Little   of  moment   has   occurred   since   his   letter  of 
Aug.   24th.     Continues  : — Our  Assembly,  etc.  (v.   Aug.   5th)  is 
by   the   unanimous   advice   and   opinion   of  the   Council    here 
further  prorogued   to   the   22nd   of  January  next,   when   the 
Members  may,  with  less  detriment  to  their  own  private  interests, 
attend  the  publick  service  and  perhaps  by  that  time  may  have 
cooler  thoughts  as  to  their  Sugar  Bill,  which  they  had  so  much 
at  heart  and  set  them  all  on  fire.     I  the  more  readily  consented 
to  this  prorogation  because  the  additional  duty  and  deficiency 
bills,  which  latter  provided  for  the  soldiers,  do  not  expire  till 
28th  of  March  and  by  this  prorogation  the  Assemblies  will  be 
brought  again  to  the  usual  time  of  year  of  meeting.     Again 
urges  the  confirmation  of  the  Act  for  settling  Port  Antonio 
(v.  5th  Aug.).     Continues : — For  as  that  settlement   will    very 
much  add  to  the  strength  and  security  of  that  part  of  the  Island 
not  only  against  a  foreign  enemy  but  also  against  the  rebellious 
negroes,   so  it  would  be  a  great  discouragement  to  the  new 
settlers  there,  who  are  now  going  on  vigorously  upon  the  faith 
of  that  Act,  to  have  the  same  rejected.      No  encouragement 
that  I  have  been  able  to  give  them  has  been  wanting.     I  have 
already  sent  thither  six  pieces  of  ordnance  with  all  necessary 
stores  and  when  our  Engineer  Colo.  Lilly  arrives  (whom  I  daily 
expect)  I  propose  to  visit  that  part  of  the  Island.     The  countrey 
in  general  as  to  the  planting  interest  is  in  a  flourishing  condition, 
the  seasons  lately  having  been  better  than  for  many  years  past. 
Our  trade  lyes  still  under  the  hardpps.  of  being  daily  molested 
by  the  Spanish  privateers.     I  hope  some  remedy  or  expedient 
may  be  found  out  to  prevent  so  great  a  grievance.     The  Spanish 
men  of  warr  which  were  sent  to  bring  home  their  money  saild 
from  Cartagena  to  the  Havana  very  richly  laden  about  the  latter 
end  of  Sept.,  etc.     They  were  to  make  but  a  short  stay  at  the 
Havana,  so  probably  they  may  get  home  by  the  time  this  comes 
to  your  Lordpps.  hands,  etc.     Signed,  Ro.  Hunter.     Endorsed, 
Reed.  13th  Jan.,  Read  25th  Feb.,  172&.     3  pp.     [C.O.  137,  17. 
ff.  133-134*;.] 

456.  Same  to  the  Duke  of  Newcastle.  Repeats  preceding. 
Signed,  Ro.  Hunter.  Endorsed,  Reed.  15th.  2|  pp.  [C.O, 
137,  53.  ff.  92-93v.] 


AMERICA   AND   WEST   INDIES. 


239 


1728. 
Nov.  11. 

Bermuda, 


457.     Lt.  Governor  Pitt  to  the  Council  of  Trade  and  Plan- 
tations.    I  arrived  2nd  Sept.,  etc.     I  found  the  country  much 


'  damnified  by  violent  storme  and  hurricane  which  happened 
in  the  foregoing  months,  very  much  dammageing  the  buildings 
as  well  publick  as  private,  and  allso  destroying  the  provitions 
of  potatoes  and  Indian  corn,  the  cheif  support  of  this  country, 
and  many  vessells  have  been  cast  away,  others  returning  by 
stress  of  weather  without  arriving  at  their  intended  ports, 
much  ruined  and  disabled  which  has  occationed  Indian  corne  to 
rise  to  seven  shillings  pr.  bushell  and  wheat,  flower  and  bread 
proportionable  etc.  Persuant  to  H.M.  Instructions  I  was 
obliged  to  inspect  into  the  administration  of  Justice,  which  I 
found  much  retarded  by  a  multiplicity  of  delays  ;  as  in  the 
first  place  Members  of  the  Councill  being  made  Judges  of  Assize 
and  Common  Pleas,  whereby  the  number  of  the  Councill  where 
lessoned,  that  very  often  they  could  not  sitt  to  hear  causes  ; 
appeals  being  brought  from  them  to  that  Court,  and  other  reasons 
that  might  be  assigned  if  not  to  long  at  present  to  be  incerted. 
Secondly,  that  five  of  the  nine  parishes  for  want  of  a  sufficient 
provision  of  Justices,  where  supplyed  by  the  Counsellor  of  the 
same  Tribe  or  parish,  so  that  writts  of  error  and  other  appeals 
that  might  be  returned  up  from  the  Quarterly  Sessions  of  the 
Peace  or  in  their  capacity  of  holding  inferiour  Courts  for  the 
tryall  of  small  debts,  and  damages  of  405.  and  under,  wou'd 
in  the  same  manner,  as  with  regard  to  the  Judges  of  Common 
Pleas,  for  want  of  numbers  wholly  incapacitate  the  Court  of 
Chancery  of  a  Quorum,  so  as  to  try  causes  brought  before  them, 
some  causes  as  I  have  been  informed  haveing  for  seven  years 
and  upwards  been  detained  there,  without  any  finall  decision. 
In  persuance  therefore  of  my  Instructions  I  have  constituted 
and  appointed  William  Outerbridge  Esq.  to  be  Chief  Justice 
of  the  Common  Pleas,  sometime  since  a  Counciller  but  at  present 
under  the  suspention  of  Collo.  John  Hope,  yet  a  person  of  sin- 
gular distinction  and  beloved  in  his  country  as  Collo.  Bennett 
will  testify  etc.,  he  being  always  ready  to  serve  his  neighbours 
by  reconcileing  differences,  that  too  frequently  do  arise,  and 
the  other  two  Judges  his  Assistants,  as  well  as  himselfe,  are 
Gentlemen  of  good  estates  and  well  recommended  to  me  for  their 
abilitys,  good  life  and  conversation.  I  have  likewise  taken  care 
to  supply  the  want  of  Justices  in  the  severall  parishes  with  such 
Gentlemen  as  are  the  most  capable  for  that  office  and  are  either 
by  the  nomination  or  aprobation  of  H.M.  Councill  here  ;  and 
none  of  them  save  only  one  by  Commission  have  I  removed, 
etc.  I  have  by  my  precepts  directed,  as  usual  to  the  Justices, 
ordered  the  election  of  Assembly  18th  Nov.  etc.  Signed, 
John  Pitt.  Endorsed,  Reed.  29th  May,  Read  3rd  June,  1729. 
llpp.  [C.O.  37,  12.  ff.  32,  33,  33i>. ;  and  (abstract)  37,  24. 
p.  29.] 


240  COLONIAL   PAPERS. 


1728. 

Nov.  13.         458.     Mr.  Popple  to  Mr.  Fane.      Encloses,  for  his  opinion 
Whitehall.     in  point  of  law,  12  Acts  of  New  Jersey,  1728,  enumerated.     [C.O. 
5,  996.     pp.  250-253.] 

Nov.  13.  459.  Benjamin  Whitaker  to  the  Council  of  Trade  and 
Plantations.  As  Attorney  General  of  South  Carolina,  submits 
enclosed  Articles,  "  of  which  I  can  produce  the  most  full  and 
authentic  proofs,  if  enabled  by  an  order  to  examine  persons  and 
send  for  papers.  I  need  not  represent  to  your  Lordships  the 
dreadfull  events  that  H.M.  subjects  in  Carolina  have  to  fear 
from  a  state  of  anarchy  and  confusion  to  which  they  are  now 
very  near  reduc'd  and  how  unable  they  are  to  defend  themselves 
against  the  enemies  that  surround  them,  whilst  they  are  under 
a  Government  so  languishing  unsteady  and  supine "  etc. 
Signed,  Benja.  Whitaker.  Endorsed,  Reed.,  Read  19th  Nov., 
1728.  1  p.  Enclosed. 

459.  i.  Articles  relating  to  the  conduct  of  Arthur  Middleton, 
President  of  South  Carolina,  (i)  He  has  neglected  to 
take  the  oaths  for  observing  the  Acts  of  Trade  etc., 
whereby  H.M.  Revenue  hath  greatly  suffered,  (ii)  A 
few  months  after  entering  on  the  administration  of 
the  Government,  he  sold  several  offices  relating  to  the 
administration  of  Justice  and  used  many  indirect 
artifices  to  extort  money  from  the  purchasers, 
(iii)  Contrary  to  the  express  orders  of  his  late  Majesty, 
he  issued  £30,000  in  paper  bills  of  credit  (which  by 
law  ought  to  have  been  sunk)  whereby  the  vallue  of 
the  said  bills  are  greatly  lessened,  and  the  trading  people 
of  Great  Britain  much  injured,  (iv)  To  the  great 
grief  and  disappointment  of  all  H.M.  good  subjects 
in  S.  Carolina,  he  delayed  proclaiming  H.M.  happy 
accession  14  days  after  he  had  received  orders  for 
that  purpose,  (v)  When  H.M.  Council  in  June,  1727, 
had  directed  warrants  to  the  Provost  Marshall  to 
apprehend  several  riotous  persons  (who  had  come 
arm'd  to  Charles  Town,  the  seat  of  Government) 
and  had  intruded  with  pistolls  into  the  Council! 
Chamber  and  delivered  a  seditious  representation, 
Mr.  Middleton  privately  and  without  the  advice  or 
consent  of  H.M.  Councell  ordered  the  Provost  Marshal 
to  stop  the  execution  of  the  said  warrants,  (vi)  When 
the  Honble.  Alexander  Skeen  Esq.  one  of  the  Members 
of  Council  had  committed  to  prison  one  Thomas  Smith 
for  assembling  together  severall  arm'd  person  in  a 
riotous  tumultuous  and  unlawfull  manner  and  con- 
federating with  his  father  Landgrave  Thomas  Smith 
by  force  of  arms  to  wrest  the  Government  out  of  the 
hands  of  Mr.  Middleton,  he  ordered  Smith  to  be  dis- 
charged without  hearing,  in  pursuance  of  a  promise 


AMERICA   AND   WEST   INDIES. 


241 


1728. 


he  made  to  an  Assembly  of  about  200  rioters  with 
whom  he  so  fair  prostituted  the  dignity  of  Govern- 
ment and  H.M.  authority  as  to  treat  capitulate  and 
make  terms,  notwithstanding  there  was  two  of  H.M. 
ships  of  war,  H.M.  Independant  Company  of  Foot, 
all  H.M.  Officers  in  the  Government  and  many  other 
good  subjects  who  offered  and  were  ready  to  assist 
him  on  the  insurrection  of  the  rioters,  (vii)  When 
proof  was  made  before  him  in  Councill  that  a  number 
of  armed  men  were  assembled  together  with  their 
faces  black'd  and  disguised  in  order  to  kill  the  Provost 
Marshall  who  had  warrants  against  them  for  levying 
the  publick  taxes  raised  for  the  support  of  H.M. 
Government,  he  ordered  the  Treasurer  to  withdraw 
the  warrants  against  the  said  persons  and  not  to  suffer 
them  to  be  executed,  (viii)  He  hath  committed 
diverse  other  acts  highly  injurious  to  H.M.  prerogative 
and  tending  to  the  lessening  the  authority  of  his 
government  etc.  l£  pp.  [C.O.  5,  360.  ff.  76,  77v.- 
78v.,  79v.] 


Nov.  13. 

Whitehall. 


460.  Mr.  Popple  to  Mr.  Fane.  Encloses,  for  his  opinion  in 
point  of  law,  2  Acts  of  Antigua,  1728,  (i)  for  laying  a  duty  of 
powder  and  money  on  all  vessels  trading  to  and  from  this  Island,  for 
the  defence  of  this  Island  etc.  and  (ii)  for  raising  a  tax  for 
paying  publick  debts  and  charges,  and  particularly  applying 
the  said  tax.  [C.O.  153,  14.  p.  405.] 


Nov.  13. 

Whitehall. 


461 .  Same  to  the  Mayors  of  Bristol,  Dartmouth,  Barnstable, 
Biddeford,  Poole,  Exeter,  Plymouth,  Weymouth,  Liverpool. 
The  Council  of  Trade  and  Plantations  having  under  their 
consideration  several  papers  relating  to  the  trade  and  fishery  of 
Newfoundland,  desire  you  will  consult  the  several  merchants 
and  others  of  -  — ,  therein  concern'd,  and  let  me  have  your 

thoughts  whether  anything,  and  what  may  be  done  for  the 
further  encouragement  thereof.     [C.O.  195,  7.    pp.  155,  156.] 


Nov.  14. 

Whitehall. 


462.  Council  of  Trade  and  Plantations  to  the  King.  Mr. 
Pusey,  one  of  your  Majesty's  Council  of  Jamaica,  having  been 
several  years  absent  and  at  present  in  jayl,  whereby  he  is  ren- 
dered unfit  to  serve  your  Majty.  in  that  station,  recommend 
Alex.  Forbes  Esq.  to  serve  in  his  room  etc.  [C.O.  138,  17. 
p.  256]. 


Nov.  14. 

Whitehall. 


463.  Same  to  Same.  Propose  James  de  Lancey  for  Council 
of  New  York  in  place  of  Mr.  Barbaric,  deed.  [C.O.  5,  1125. 
p.  121]. 


C.P.XXXVI— 16 


242 


COLONIAL   PAPERS. 


1728. 
Nov.  14. 

Whitehall. 


Nov.  14. 


464.  Same   to   Same.     Recommend  that   Flag  Officers  and 
Commanders  in   Chief  in   the   Plantations   be   inserted   in  the 
Commissions  for  trying  pirates  (Nov.   6),   as  requested  by  the 
Admiralty.     [C.O.  324,  11.     pp.  133,  134.] 

465.  Petition  of  James  Smith  to  the  Council  of  Trade  and 
Plantations.     Three  Acts  of  New  Jersey,  for  shortening  lawsuits, 
regulating  the  practice  of  the  law  and  recording  deeds  were  dis- 
allowed in  1721  as  laying  petitioners'  office  under  some  hardships. 
But  in  1727  Governour  Burnet,  for  £600  given  to  him  by  the 
Assembly,  under  the  name  of  incidental  charges,  did  re-enact 
the  aforesaid  laws,  and  caused  a  new  ordinance  to  be  made  in 
which  the  fees  only  of  the  Secretary  are  reduced  to  very  near 
to    what    they  were    when    first    complained   of.    Upon    some 
objections  made  in    Council  about  re-enacting  these  laws,    on 
account  of  the  37th  Instruction,  the  Assembly  voted  to  the 
Secretary  £25  a  year  in  consideration  of  the  loss  his   Office 
would  sustain  thereby,  which  he  is  sure  will  be  more  than  £60. 
After  opposing  it  in  Council  as  much  as  he  could,  Memorialist 
was  obliged  to  accept  this  or  get  nothing.     Prays  for  redress. 
Signed,  James  Smith.     Endorsed,  Reed,  (from  Mr.  Docminique), 
Read  14th  Nov.,  1728.     1  p.     [C.O.  5,  972.    ff.  170,  1700.] 


Nov.  19.  466.  Order  of  Committee  of  Privy  Council.  The  Lords 
Whitehall,  of  the  Committee  having  before  them  some  reports  from  the 
Lords  Commissioners  for  Trade  etc.  upon  the  woods  in  America 
and  naval  stores  etc.,  thought  it  proper,  before  they  entred 
into  the  consideration  thereof  to  be  informed,  whether  any 
projects  for  promoting  the  silk,  linnen  or  woollen  manufactures 
in  any  of  H.M.  Plantations,  have  been  at  any  time  carried  on, 
or  are  now  carrying  on,  and  to  what  degree  of  perfection  the 
same  may  have  been  brought ;  and  to  that  end  their  Lordships 
are  hereby  pleased  to  order,  that  the  Lords  Commissioners  for 
Trade  etc.  do  lay  before  this  Committee  as  soon  as  conveniently 
may  be  the  best  informations  they  can  procure  in  relation 
thereto.  Signed,  Temple  Stanyan.  Endorsed,  Reed.  21st, 
Read  26th  Nov.,  1728.  1  p.  [C.O.  323,  8.  No.  98.] 

Nov.  20.         467.     Mr.   Popple  to  Mr.   Whitaker,   Attorney  General,   S. 

Whitehall.  Carolina.  My  Lords  Commissioners  having  received  a  letter 
from  you,  with  some  articles  in  relation  to  the  conduct  of  Mr. 
Middleton  etc.,  are  very  much  surprised  at  your  having  sent  a 
paper  of  that  consequence,  without  giving  the  Board  an  oppor- 
tunity of  discoursing  with  you  thereupon,  before  you  left 
London.  Your  letter  was  dated  the  13th  instant,  but  not 
received  till  yesterday,  when  I  was  informed  that  you  went 
out  of  Town,  the  very  day  you  wrote  your  letter,  for  Bristol, 
to  imbark  for  Carolina.  [C.O.  5,  400.  p.  241.] 


AMERICA   AND   WEST   INDIES. 


243 


1728. 
Nov.  20. 

Whitehall. 


Nov.  20. 

Whitehall. 


468.  Council  of  Trade  and  Plantations  to  Governor 
Montgomerie.  Acknowledge  letters  of  30th  May  and  13th  Aug. 
and  acquaint  him  with  their  proceedings.  Continue  : — We  have 
considered  Mr.  Burnet's  reasons  for  having  given  his  assent 
to  the  Act  (of  New  Jersey)  for  appropriating  a  part  of  the  interest 
etc.  to  the  incidental  charges  of  the  Government  etc.,  but  we  can 
by  no  means  agree  with  him  that  the  interest  arising  from  thence, 
having  been  detain'd  in  order  to  answer  any  deficiency  which 
might  have  happen 'd,  has  given  no  credit  to  these  bills  supposing 
even  that  this  was  a  fact.  We  can't  imagine  how  Mr.  Burnet 
can  justify  his  having  given  his  assent  to  any  Act  for  applying 
the  said  interest  mony  without  a  clause  for  preventing  the 
said  Acts  taking  place  till  H.M.  pleasure  could  be  known 
thereupon  or  at  least  without  having  consulted  us  after  having 
received  a  letter  wherein  we  so  sufficiently  explained  our 
thoughts  upon  this  subject.  We  find  by  the  last  clause  of  this 
Act,  that  the  interest  mony,  as  the  same  shall  rise,  is  made 
applicable  to  such  uses,  as  the  Governor,  Council  and  Assembly 
shall  direct,  so  that  should  this  Act  remain  unrepealed,  till  the 
Act  for  creating  paper  mony  expires,  and  any  deficiency  should 
happen,  a  tax  must  then  inevitably  be  laid  upon  that  county 
where  such  deficiency  shall  happen,  to  make  good  the  same, 
but  if  none  should  happen,  the  interest  arising  from  these 
bills  will  be  so  much  clear  gain  to  the  Province.  We 
therefore  desire,  you  will  move  the  Assembly  to  pass  an  Act 
for  repealing  this  last  clause,  and  if  they  don't  think  proper 
immediatly  to  comply  therewith,  we  will  lay  this  Act  before 
H.M.  for  his  disallowance.  We  are  the  more  determin'd  upon 
this  point,  because  the  gain  which  will  accrue  to  the  Province, 
cannot  arrise  till  the  paper  mony  Act  shall  expire,  and  therefore, 
the  interest  already  paid  in  by  the  borrowers,  having  been 
applied  to  different  uses  than  that  to  which  it  was  originally 
design'd,  has  prevented  the  sinking  the  same  value  of  paper 
bills,  as  that  interest  would  have  amounted  to.  Upon  this 
head  we  shall  expect  to  hear  from  you  as  soon  as  possible  etc. 


Set 
pp. 


out,   N.Y. 
120-125.] 


Col.   Docs.   V.     pp.   870,    871.     [C.O.   5,    1125. 


469.  Mr.  Popple  to  Governor  Hunter.  Acknowledges  letters 
of  the  4th,  16th  and  19th  May,  29th  June,  3rd  and  5th  Aug., 
etc.  Continues  : — As  the  Acts  enclosed  are  now  with  Mr.  Fane, 
my  Lords  Commrs.  have  deferred  writing  to  you  till  they 
shall  have  received  his  report  etc.  They  have  recommended 
Mr.  Forbes  to  be  of  the  Council  as  you  have  desired.  Upon  this 
occasion  I  must  observe  to  you  that  the  Board  have  ever  thought 
themselves  by  virtue  of  the  Commission  the  proper  persons  to 
judge  of  the  qualifications  of  those  who  are  recommended  to  be 
of  any  of  H.M.  Councils  in  America  ;  and  therefore  you  will 
do  well  for  the  future  to  make  your  application  to  them  :  It  is 


244 


COLONIAL   PAPERS. 


1728. 

true  that  persons  have  sometimes  been  propos'd  to  a  Secry. 
of  State  in  order  to  their  being  appointed  Councillors,  but 
the  Board's  opinion  has  ever  been  asked,  and  none  has  been 
named  but  upon  their  recommendation.  This  I  don't  tell 
you  by  order  of  the  Board  but  I  thought  it  might  be  of 
service  to  you  to  receive  this  private  information  etc.  In 
relation  to  the  bill  for  making  the  goods  of  the  produce  of  the 
country,  a  lawfull  tender  for  the  payment  of  debts  (v.  5th  Aug.), 
their  Lordships  think  you  did  very  well  to  refuse  your  consent 
thereto,  as  in  doing  otherways  you  would  have  acted  directly 
contrary  to  your  19th  Instruction  :  This  bill  being  of  a  very 
extraordinary  nature,  and  against  which  there  appear  many 
reasonable  objections.  I  have  mentioned  to  their  Lordships 
what  you  propose  in  your  letter  to  me,  3rd  Aug.,  as  a  means 
to  make  this  sugar  bill  tolerably  just  vizt.  "  That  the  debtor 
ship  the  sugars  at  his  own  cost  and  risque,  and  draw  upon  them 
at  a  certainty  pr.  cent.,  and  altho'  their  Lordships  should  be  of 
opinion  with  you  that  the  creditor  will  thereby  be  in  a  better 
state  than  by  the  bill,  yet  if  H.M.  should  be  inclined  to  allow 
of  this  bill  with  your  addition,  the  Assembly  will  not  in  this 
case  be  permitted  to  make  any  alteration  after  H.M.  shall  have 
approved  thereof  ;  And  as  it  does  not  appear  to  the  Board 
that  either  the  Council  or  Assembly  are  appriz'd  of  your  proposed 
addition,  it  may  possibly  happen  that  they  may  not  agree 
thereto  ;  My  Lords  Commrs.  are  therefore  of  opinion  that  if 
the  Assembly  should  again  revive  this  Bill,  that  you  should 
propose  to  them  this  amendment  but  in  all  cases  not  to  give 
your  assent  to  an  Act  of  this  nature,  without  inserting  a  clause 
for  suspending  it's  taking  effect,  until  H.M.  pleasure  shall  be 
known  thereon.  Informs  him  of  additional  Instruction  as  to 
Col.  Lilly's  salary.  [C.O.  138,  17.  pp.  256-259.] 

Nov.  23.         470.     Order  of  King  in  Council.     Warrants  are  to  be  prepared 

st.  James's.    for  renewing  commissions  to  Governors  to  try  pirates  etc.  (v. 

A.P.C.   III.     No.   158).     Signed,   Temple   Stanyan.     Endorsed, 

Reed.  3rd,  Read  15th  Jan.,  172f.     2  pp.     [C.O.  152,  16.    ff. 

373,  373i;., 


Nov.  23.         471  .     Order  of  King  in  Council.     Repealing  Act  of  Antigua 
st.  James's,   for  constituting  a  Court  to  hold  plea  of  foreign  attachments  accord- 
ing to  the  custom  of  the  City  of  London.     Signed  and  endorsed  as 
preceding.     If  pp.     [C.O.  152,  16.    ff.  375,  375i;.,  376*;.] 

Nov.  23.        472.     Order  of  King  in  Council.     Confirming  Act  of  Antigua 
st.'  James's,   for  the  better  securing  and  confirming  the  titles  of  George  Thomas 

to  certain  lands  and  negroes.     Signed  and  endorsed  as  preceding. 

2  pp.     [C.O.  152,  16.     ff.  377,  377v.,  378v.] 


AMERICA   AND   WEST   INDIES. 


245 


1728. 
Nov.  23. 

St.  James's. 


Nov.  23. 

N. 
Providence. 


Nov.  23. 


Nov.  23. 

N. 

Providence. 


Nov.  23. 

Bristol. 


473.  Order    of   King    in    Council.     Appointing    James    de 
Lancey  to  the  Council  of  New  York,  as  recommended  14th  Nov. 
Signed,    Temple    Stanyan.     Endorsed,    Reed.    3rd,    Read   15th 
Jan.,  1728.     1  p.     [C.O.  5,  1054.    ff.  303,  304u.  ;    and  (signed, 
Ja.  Vernon)  5,  1086.     No.  3.] 

474.  Governor    Phenney    to    the    Council    of    Trade    and 
Plantations.     Encloses  Minute  of  Council  and  Custom  house 
papers  mentioned  4th  Nov.     Signed,  G.  Phenney.     Endorsed, 
Reed.  12th  Feb.,    Read   1st    May,    1729.      1  p.     [C.O.    23,   2 

ff.  188,  189!;.] 

475.  Memorandum  of  Order  of  King  in  Council  relating 
to  the  renewal  of  Commissions  for  trying  pirates  in  America  and 
the  necessary  alterations  therein.     Endorsed,  Read  15th  Jan., 
1728-9.     I  p.     [C.O.  323,  8.     No.  103.] 

476.  Governor     Phenney     to     the     Duke     of    Newcastle. 
Encloses   following,    on   which   he   desires   directions.     Signed, 
G.  Phenney.     Endorsed,  Rd.  Feb.  12th.     1  p.     Enclosed, 

476.  i.  Minutes  of  Council  of  the  Bahama  Islands,  18th  Nov., 
1728.  The  petition  of  William  Fairfax,  appointed 
Deputy  Receiver  of  Admiralty  dues  13th  April,  1728, 
was  read,  complaining  that  Peter  Goudet,  Agent  for 
the  Bahama  Society,  Lessees  of  the  Lords  Proprietors, 
refused  to  surrender  the  perquisites  of  Admiralty 
received  by  him  for  account  of  the  said  Lessees.  Mr. 
Goudet  replied,  maintaining  the  right  of  the  Lessees 
under  the  assignment  of  the  Charter  by  the  Lords 
Proprietors.  Mr.  Goudet  was  directed  to  give  security, 
whilst  the  matter  was  referred  home  etc.  Copy. 
Signed,  W.  Fairfax  Clk.  Council.  3f  pp. 

476.  ii.,  iii.  List  of  ships  entered  and  cleared  New  Providence, 

25th  June — 29th  Sept.,  1728,  4  inwards  and  8  outwards, 
with  cargoes  of  fruit,  turtle  and  flour  for  S.  Carolina 
(5),  Jamaica  (1),  N.  England  (1),  and  Antigua. 
(Madeira  and  mahogany)  (1).  Signed,  Jno.  Warner, 
N.O.  3  pp.  [C.O.  23,  14.  ff.  53,  54,v.-5Qv.,  57v., 
58,  59.] 

477.  Mr.  Whitaker  to  Mr.  Popple.     In  reply  to  letter  of 
20th  Nov.,  explains  that  he  was  unable  to  attend  the  Board 
when  in  London  owing  to  illness  and  was  hurriedly  recalled  to 
Carolina   by   the   news   that   the   hurricane   had   proved   very 
prejudicial  to  his  private  affairs,  etc.     Refers  to  charges  against 
Mr.  Middleton  (v.  13th  Nov.).     The  facts  are  notoriously  known 
in    the    Province    etc.     Signed,    Benja.    Whitaker.     Endorsed, 
Reed.    25th,    Read   26th   Nov.,    1728.     l£  PP-     [c-°-   5>   36°- 
ff.  80, 


246 


COLONIAL   PAPERS. 


1728. 

Nov.  23.  478.  Order  of  King  in  Council.  Disallowing  draught  of 
St.  James's.  a  j^u  prepared  by  the  Assembly  of  Barbados,  for  laying  a  duty 
on  wines  and  other  liquors  imported,  etc.  for  carrying  on  the  fortifi- 
cations and  payment  of  persons  employed  at  the  publick  charge  etc., 
upon  a  report  by  the  Committee  that  by  some  clauses  therein 
inserted,  the  Assembly  would  deprive  the  Governor  of  the 
power  given  him  by  H.M.,  to  sign  warrants,  for  the  issuing  of 
moneys,  without  their  appro